An OC Story
by Captainof10
Summary: Tom gets bored of life in Cipher's old lab in the desert and begins a journey to compete in Hoenn. What kind of people will he meet? And wasn't Team Rocket disbanded? Humorous. Please submit OCs!
1. The End of Boredom

**Hey. This is a story with my own OCs, and will also be using a few other OCs if people will offer them. My inspiration for this story is 'Pokémon Genesis Version' by Flaz S.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Pokémon.**

**An OC Story**

* * *

Tom sighed as he lay on his bed. He ran his hand through his brown hair and closed his equally brown eyes. He couldn't take it anymore. Nothing ever happened in this boring lab in the middle of the desert. He needed excitement and adventure, and ever since Cipher was put down a second time, they seemed nonexistent in this region. To him they did anyway.

*Three days later*

"Are you sure about this?" Tom's mother asked for the 19th time. They were in Gateon Port. Tom's boat to Hoenn was just about to leave. There was a chilly breeze, but Tom's regular jean jacket kept him warm. He also wore a blue T-shirt underneath his jacket, black jeans, and black and blue trainers.

"Yes, Mom. I've already waited until I'm twelve. I'm not waiting anymore."

"Okay, fine, but take this." She hands him 3000 Poké.

"3000? Isn't that a bit much?"

"Of course not. You'll need money for lots of things. And who knows when you'll get more."

'_Doesn't she know I'll win money through battles?'_ "Okay, Mom, I'll take it." He took the money from her hand and walked on board.

"Be sure to brush your teeth morning and night!" she called.

"I know, Mom!" he yelled back, thinking, _'Come on, you stupid boat. Go faster!'_

He walked toward the front of the ship, where he couldn't hear the embarrassing things his mom was shouting to him. He found a bench, set his backpack down, and lay down to take a nap.

*

Tom woke in the evening to the sound of a door opening quite suddenly. He sat up and saw a young girl's head pop out of the door and look both ways before stepping out. She wasn't too much younger than him, probably ten. She had jean shorts that went to her knees, and a grey hoodie with several different colored stripes. Her dark blonde hair rested on her shoulders. Suddenly, she locked eyes with him. She walked toward him, never breaking eye contact, and Tom began to feel weird. When she reached him, her eyes left his just to look him up and down for a second. Then she broke the silence.

"I bet you think you're pretty badass, don'cha?"

"HUH?!"

Tom was so surprised that when he tried to stand up, he moved too quickly, and ended up falling flat on his face.

"Wha…wh…what did you say that for?!" he yelled, while holding his nose, which hurt more than the rest of his face.

"Because of the way you dress."

"You assumed that I think I'm badass because of my clothing?"

The girl nodded. Tom sweat-dropped.

"Did it ever occur to you that I might just like blue and black? Who are you anyway?"

"Oh! I'm Kelli. Sorry, I forget to introduce myself sometimes."

"I guess it's not a big deal. Anyway, I'm Tom. Now, wh-"

Just then, a member of the crew that had been passing by grabbed Kelli by her arm.

"Ah! Let me go!"

"Found you! Now you'll pay for what you took!" yelled the man.

"Took?" asked Tom.

"This little brat has been smuggling food out of the kitchen since we left the port," the man explained, "she must've eaten at least 150 Poké's worth!"

Tom's eyebrows rose. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, sir."

Both Kelli and the man looked at him in confusion.

"Why are you apologizing?" asked the man.

"That little girl is my little sister. I took a nap when I knew that she always gets into trouble, so it's my fault." He then took out some of the money he got from his mom.

'_What do you know? Mom's money will be useful after all.'_ "Here," said Tom, as he handed the man the money, "250 Poké. The extra is an apology for your trouble."

The man looked at the money for a second before taking it. "I guess I can let you go if you're paying, but teach your sister not to steal, okay?"

"I will, sir. Kelli, apologize."

Kelli looked like she was about to object, but she muttered an apology and walked behind Tom.

"Later kids. Stay out of trouble," the man said before opening the door Kelli had come out of and disappearing inside.

"Why did you help me?" asked Kelli.

"I had the extra money," replied Tom, "Plus, you're the most interesting thing that's happened to me in years, and I have the feeling it's going to get more interesting."

"Why?"

"You don't look like the type of girl who has anyplace to put 150 Poké's worth of food, so the question is, who or what does?"

Kelli's eyes dropped to the floor and she started fidgeting.

"I knew it. Tell me the story, and I'll help in any way I can."

Kelli looked at him with and wide eyes and smiled.

"It'll be easier to show you. Follow me." She turned and started running as quietly as she could. Tom followed suit and smiled at how he'd already found an adventure. Kelli led him to a door and quietly opened it. Some stairs led down to a dark room. Tom closed the door behind him and Kelli flipped on the lights. Tom was shocked. He had heard about this, but never experienced it. Many Pokémon were crammed into cages. There was an Arcanine, three Clefairy, a Raticate, four Slowpoke, and a Fearow.

"I heard a Kanto circus's Pokémon were being held here and I wanted to see them, but they have no room to move, and they're hardly being fed anything," explained Kelli. She looked at Tom and was surprised to see him smiling.

"Let's hurry before we're caught," he said, as he dropped his backpack on the ground and unzipped it, pulling out some clear tape and a paper clip.

"What are you doing?" asked Kelli.

"Freeing them of course."

"WHAT?!"

"Shhh! Do you want to get caught, you dope?"

"But that's breaking the law."

"So? That's what makes it so exciting!"

He stood up from his bag and saw Kelli staring at him with a scowl.

"What?"

"Are you a felon?" Tom sweat-dropped.

"Shut up and listen to my plan."

"Fine, I'm listening."

"Alright, first, we can't release them until we reach the harbor. We have to put this tape on the cages to prevent them from swinging open, but if pushed, they will easily open. Once the cages are taped shut, I'll pick the locks, and when we land, the Pokémon will push themselves out."

"But what if they don't know to?" Tom smiled.

"Leave that to me."

*The next morning*

The boat had docked at a small harbor near Petalburg City and Tom and Kelli were getting off the boat.

"What are we doing?" asked Kelli, "I thought you were going to free the Pokémon."

"I am. Watch."

He pulled out a small, long whistle and blew into it. Kelli didn't hear it, but immediately sounds could be heard from the boat. After a few seconds, Fearow flew over them and Arcanine and Raticate jumped from the boat to the dock. The Clefairy were riding on Arcanine's back. The Slowpoke were nowhere to be seen. Tom sweat-dropped.

"Either they didn't react to the Poké Whistle, or they're taking their sweet time."

"Who cares? At least the cute and cool ones got away safely. Besides, what would the circus do with only Slowpoke?"

"Point taken. Now let's find the bus to Littleroot."

* * *

**Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Characters that have legendaries, all super rare Pokémon in their party, or super powers will not be accepted. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of the my character. Ex: If you want a Swampert, and I use your character in the next chapter, it will start as Mudkip and grow as the story progresses. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. Thanks! :)**

**Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...**


	2. First Pokémon & First Battles

**Disclaimer: Don't own Pokémon. Riley is owned by Mewk.**

**An OC Story**

* * *

Tom and Kelli were on the bus, which was taking them to Littleroot Town.

"Hey, I just remembered," said Tom, "Why are you going to Littleroot Town?"

"I've always wanted to travel to other regions and explore," answered Kelli, "but my parents need to work. So when I turned ten a week ago, I decided to become a trainer and travel without them. I just picked a region randomly, and ended up coming here. So why are you going there?"

Tom thought for a moment. "I suppose my reasons aren't that different from yours, except I'm doing this for the excitement of it. I waited two years because my mom wouldn't shut up about my being too young. I guess it wasn't a complete loss. I lived in a lab, so I was able to research whatever Pokémon I wanted. Hoenn just seemed most interesting."

The bus came to a stop. "All those for Littleroot Town, we've arrived!" called the driver. Tom and Kelli stood up and got off the bus, which drove away right after. Kelli looked around at the houses and buildings.

"I wonder which one is the lab?" she half-asked.

"I'm guessing it's the only three story building in sight."

"Oh yeah. I knew that."

They walked toward the large building, and when they reached it, Tom knocked on the double doors. Eventually, a man with black hair and a lab-coat answered the door and looked down at the two.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "Am I correct in guessing that you are two new trainers?"

"Yes, sir./Yup!" answered Tom and Kelli respectively.

The man frowned. "I'm sorry, but Professor Birch hasn't come back with the new starters yet. He should be back later today. Do you want to wait inside?"

"No thanks, we'll find something else to do," said Tom. The man nodded and returned inside.

"Why aren't we waiting here?" asked Kelli.

"I've done my share of waiting. Let's go to Oldale Town and see if we meet him."

"But how?"

"Through Route 101. It _is_ the only way out of this town."

"Okay."

They found the road leading to Route 101 and followed it into the forest. When they reached a turn in the road, Tom heard something.

"Wait! Stop and listen," he whispered to Kelli. They listened intently and heard two men's voices.

"I already told you to give them to me!" shouted the first.

"No, you can't have them!" yelled the second.

Tom and Kelli hid behind a tree and peeked around the corner. They saw a man with brown hair and a lab-coat backed against a tree, clutching a case desperately.

'_I bet that's Professor Birch,'_ thought Tom, _'but who's the other guy?'_

The second man had his back to them. He was wearing a black hat, shirt, and pants, and white boots. On the back of his shirt was a large, red R.

'_Team Rocket?! But why are they in Hoenn?'_

The man then tossed a Poké ball, revealing a large black dog, which growled, "Mightyena!"

Tom jumped out of his hiding place and yelled, "Stop!"

The men and Mightyena all looked at him. Birch then threw him the case, which he caught.

"Run! Don't let this man get those Pokémon!" yelled Birch. Tom smirked.

"Of course I won't give them to him, but I won't run either," he said as he reached inside and pulled out a Poké ball.

"Are you crazy?!" shouted Kelli, stepping out from behind the tree, "We have to run!"

"No way. This is far too exciting to run away from," he said, before throwing the Poké ball. It popped open and a small orange chick appeared.

'_Torchic, huh? Okay!'_

The man began to get angry.

"This is so annoying! Mightyena, Take Down!"

Mightyena ran towards Torchic, who looked unnerved, but bravely stood its ground.

"Torchic, dodge right!" called Tom. Torchic jumped to the right, causing Mightyena to miss and skid to a halt.

"Mightyena, what are you doing?! Get that little pest!"

Mightyena charged at Torchic again.

"Tochic, jump over it!"

At the last second, Torchic jumped over Mightyena, making Mightyena crash into the tree behind him. The dark type fell to the ground.

"Get up, you useless mutt! Use Crunch!"

Mightyena rose and charged Torchic once more.

"Torchic, jump and Scratch!"

Torchic jumped, causing Mightyena to snap at thin air. While in midair, Torchic swiped at Mightyena with a clawed foot, scratching both eyes.

Torchic landed at the side and Mightyena howled in pain. He clawed and jumped and snapped blindly, ignoring his master's commands. Eventually, The man recalled him.

"You brats! I won't forget this!" he screamed as he ran away.

"That's right!" Tom shouted after him, "You remember this humiliation for the rest of your life!"

He then caught a glimpse of Kelli and Birch in the corner of his eye. He turned to find them gaping at him.

"What?"

"That was so cool!" yelled Kelli.

"Well, I guess I was pretty-"

"That Torchic is so cool! I want one!" Tom fell flat on his face.

Birch smiled at the scene. "Sorry little lady. That was my only Torchic, and he seems to be very fond of your friend."

Sure enough, Torchic walked up to Tom's leg and nuzzled up to him.

"Aww… That's so presh!" said Kelli. Tom and Birch gave her strange looks, but ignored it.

"Wait," said Tom, "Are you saying he's mine now?"

"Isn't it obvious? He won't accept anyone else now."

"Then that means that I have only two to choose from for mine," said Kelli.

Birch gave Kelli a nervous grin.

"Actually, I gave Mudkip away to a new trainer to spare them the trouble of coming to my lab, so all I have left is Treecko."

"Oh. Okay!"

"It doesn't bother you?"

"Of course not! Now I don't have to make any tough choices!" explained Kelli, sounding a bit too happy. Birch sweat-dropped.

"Okay then, but you should still come to my lab. You might have already guessed, but I'm Birch."

"I'm Kelli."

"Name's Tom."

*back at the lab*

"Here, these will be your IDs as Pokémon trainers," said Birch as he handed them one Pokédex each.

"Do they only come in red?" asked Tom. Birch laughed.

"You can customize it to be any color you want."

"Cool! Blue it is!"

"I want violet!" Birch smiled at the two.

"Alright you two, before I forget, here are five Poké balls for each of you."

"Thanks!" they said in unison.

After saying goodbye to Professor Birch, the two walked back to Route 101. Tom decided to look at Torchic's stats on his Pokédex. When he did, his eyes widened.

"Whoa! Torchic is already at level 12!"

"Of course it is. That was a _Mightyena_ you defeated," said Kelli matter-of-factly.

"I know, but I didn't think Torchic would get the points since we didn't faint him."

"Whatever. I'm gonna let out Treecko so I can get a look at him."

She popped open the Poké ball and the little gecko Pokémon appeared.

"Aww… He's so presh…" she cooed while hugging Treecko tightly. Strangely enough, he didn't make any objections despite looking quite uncomfortable.

"Uhh…Kelli? What is 'presh'" asked Tom.

"It's short for precious, duh!" Tom sweat-dropped.

"Ooookay… Anyway, I see Oldale Town up ahead. Let's hurry to the Pokémon Center so we can get some lunch!"

Kelli returned Treecko and sprinted to the Center with Tom. When they entered, they ran toward the cafeteria, slipping on the floor when they paid no attention to the 'Wet Floor' sign. After picking themselves up they then quickly but carefully walked to the counter. After they ordered their food, Tom pulled out some money.

"Oh, no you don't, dear," said the lady behind the counter, "Trainers get their food free."

Tom and Kelli looked at each other before ordering seconds of everything they ordered. The lady laughed as they walked to their table. As they sat down and ate their food, they proceeded to converse with their mouths full.

"So," began Tom, "where are you heading next?"

"It doesn't matter where I go as long as I'm traveling, so I guess I'll just stick with you," she replied. This surprised Tom.

"Why do you want to stay with me?"

"You said I was the most interesting thing that happened to you in years, so it shouldn't matter."

Tom gave her a suspicious look and asked, "Exactly how much money do you have on you?"

She gave him her biggest smile and said, "Absolutely nothing."

Tom scowled. "So I have to pay for both of us in everything?"

Kelli shrugged. "Entertainment doesn't come cheap, my friend."

Tom froze at the word 'friend'. He thought about it. It would be nice to have a regular friend, all to himself. The only ones he had had previously were kids that would rarely come to visit on certain occasions, and when they weren't there, they never kept in touch. He smiled as he resumed eating. Perhaps paying for her wouldn't be so bad.

*after lunch*

"Okay, now let's move on to Route 103. You need to train some before we head to Route 102. That's where all the beginner trainers meet and battle," said Tom.

"Whatever," answered Kelli, "I'm just following you, remember?"

"Oh, yeah…"

They moved north, where they found a large field of knee-high grass and a river to the east. Kelli released Treecko from his ball.

"Now," began Thomas, "one important thing about being a trainer is having different strategies. Right now, I think you should work on your countering, which is when you wait for the opponent to make a move before you strike."

"I know what countering means, and why are you acting like a know-it-all when you started just before me?"

"Well, I've had two years to watch and study countless battle videos, plus, my victory over Mightyena shows that it makes a difference, even if it was luck that the trainer was about as skilled as Goldeen in a 100 meter sprint."

"Fine, fine."

They heard a rustling to their left.

"There's one! Treecko, use Pound!" yelled Kelli.

"Hey, wait!" cried Tom.

Treecko lunged toward the rustling.

"No, stop!"

Treecko stopped abruptly at the unknown voice. A boy then rose up from the grass. He looked to be ten. He had black hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a green T-shirt and jeans.

"Please don't hurt me!" he said in a tone that was probably higher than his normal voice.

"Aw, you mean it wasn't a Pokémon?" whined Kelli. Tom flicked her in the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" she yelled.

"What you just did was a prime example of what _not_ to do," said Tom calmly, "If you attack without even knowing who your opponent is, then you'll be surprised by any move they make. Plus, they might not even be an enemy." He looked at the boy as he said the last part. The boy grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. I had dropped something and was looking for it," he said, "My name's Riley, what's yours?"

"Nice ta meetcha. I'm Tom, and this little loon is Kelli."

"Who's a 'little loon'?!" screamed Kelli.

Riley chuckled before asking, "Are you two beginners? I just started myself."

"Yeah, we are," answered Tom.

"Hey, stop ignoring me!"

"Could I ask you for a battle?"

"Sure."

"Hey!"

"How many Pokémon you got?"

"Just one so far."

"HEEEEEEY!!!"

Kelli's last shout made the boys cringe and cover their ears.

"Jeez," said Tom, "I know we're not indoors, but does your outdoor voice have to be so loud?"

"Shut up! We came here to train me, so it should be me who battles him!"

"Fine, all you had to do was ask."

"Argh!"

Riley sweat-dropped.

"Please get along you two, all I want is a battle."

"Fine! Treecko, get over here!"

Treecko nodded almost indifferently, apparently not affected by his trainer's fury, and walked over to face Riley.

"Okay, I'll choose Mudkip," Riley decided as he released the Mud Fish Pokémon.

"Treecko, Pound!"

Treecko charged toward Mudkip.

"Mudkip, Mud-Slap, then Tackle!"

Mudkip kicked up mud at Treecko's face. Treecko stopped and leaned back to dogde the mud, but when he rose, Mudkip landed a Tackle into his chest, sending him into a nearby tree. Tom's eyebrows rose.

'_I see. That stategy works whether or not the first move hits. Impressive.'_

"Tackle again!"

"Jump, Treecko!"

Treecko rose to see Mudkip charging him. He jumped last second and Mudkip ran into the tree. Mudkip shock off the pain and looked up to see Treecko standing on a high up branch.

"Mud-Slap!"

"Pound!"

Mudkip shot another clump of mud at Treecko, who jumped over it and fell to the ground, twisting around to slam his tail into Mudkip. Mudkip skidded across the ground. When he stopped, the swirling of his eyes showed his defeat.

"Yes!" squealed Kelli as she ran over and gave Treecko one of her breath-taking hugs, "I can't believe it! That countering stuff actually works!"

"I would say 'I hate to say I told you so,' but then I'd be lying," said Tom with a smirk.

"Riley returned Mudkip and walked up to Kelli.

"That was a good battle. Thanks," he said, smiling.

"It was, wasn't it? And it was only my first!"

"I still wish I could have battled you, though," said Tom.

"Okay, why not?" said Riley.

"Huh?"

"I've got another Pokémon, but I gotta warn you, he's _much_ stronger."

"That's okay. I'm the stronger of the two of us anyway."

Tom called out Torchic.

"Nice Torchic. Now, here's my buddy!"

Riley tossed a Poké ball that opened to reveal a small, yellow mouse with red cheeks and a lightning bolt tail. Tom raised his eyebrows.

"A Pikachu? Interesting. Torchic, start with Growl."

Torchic let out what sounded like a high-pitched rumble that made Pikachu cringe.

"Don't worry about it Pikachu, Thundershock!"

"Dodge and use Ember!"

Pikachu charged up energy and fired an electric blast toward Torchic. Torchic jumped to the right and shot several darts of fire out his beak. Pikachu was still firing his attack and couldn't move before the attack hit. Pikachu was knocked down, and when got up, he had a few burns on his front.

"Keep trying! Use Double Team!"

"Huh?!"

Pikachu split into eight different Pikachu that formed a circle around Torchic.

'_Double Team means that Pikachu is at least level eighteen! We can't afford to get shocked at that level,'_ thought Tom.

"Torchic, jump as high as you can and fire Ember at all of them!"

Torchic jumped high into the air and shot his fire darts at all the clones, knocking up dust at the same time.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!"

Tom saw a streak of yellow exit the dust cloud before hitting a tree and launching itself up toward Torchic.

"Torchic, Scratch behind you!"

Torchic turned and immediately swung a clawed foot that hit Pikachu and sent him falling to the ground. While falling, Pikachu fired a Thundershock at Torchic, who was unable to dodge in midair. Torchic was hit and fell to the ground. Both Pokémon crash-landed into the ground. Their trainers ran to there side to check if they were okay. They had both been knocked out.

"Good job, Torchic," whispered Tom as he returned the tired chick to its ball, "but man, we were _so close_."

"Yeah," said Riley as he also returned Pikachu, "I was biting my nails after you wiped out our clones with one move. It was a really fun battle." He smiled.

"Not as fun as your battle with _me_ though, right?" asked Kelli.

Riley was thoughtful for a second before saying, "No, not really."

"Gah!"

"But how did you get such a strong Pikachu _here_?" asked Tom.

"I didn't," answered Riley, "My parents sent him to me."

"Man! That's _such_ a better present than 3000 Poké!"

"That's a lot of money, but I guess I have to agree with you."

"Ew!" said Kelli, "The sun's going down and all the bugs are coming out!"

Tom shivered. "Let's get back to the Poké Center before the mosquitoes eat me alive!"

The other two were quick to agree.

* * *

**Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Characters that have legendaries, all super rare Pokémon in their party, or super powers will not be accepted. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of the my character. Ex: If you want a Swampert, and I use your character in the next chapter, it will start as Mudkip and grow as the story progresses. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. If you don't submit a character, review anyway. Thanks! :)**

**Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...**


	3. Of New Moves and Crooks

**Disclaimer: Don't own Pokémon. Riley is owned by Mewk.**

**An OC Story**

* * *

It was 6 o' clock when Tom woke up. He looked around the dark room of the Pokémon Center they were in. There were two bunk beds in the room. He frowned, remembering last night when they had all wanted to sleep in a top bunk, but he was stuck with the bed under Riley when he lost at rock, paper, scissors. He slid out of bed and unzipped his backpack. He then pulled out a notebook and pulled out a piece of paper. Next, he quickly scribbled a note and taped it to the door. After he put his shoes on, he quietly slipped through the door and walked down the hall to the lobby. He stepped outside and proceeded toward Route 103. When he got to the field he let out Torchic, who was as wide-awake as he was.

"Okay, you know why we're here, right?"

Torchic nodded.

"Then let's get started. We need you to have as many powerful moves as possible if we're going to beat Riley soon. Let's start with covering your weaknesses. You need a move that will be good against rock types, since we'll be heading to Rustboro City soon. Let's try to teach you Metal Claw."

He pointed at a large rock nearby.

"Try focusing your strength into your nails and attack that rock."

Torchic paused, as if in concentration, before running at the rock, jumping, and swiping it with his left claw. He bounced back and fell to the ground.

"Okay, um… try imagining that the energy in your claws makes them unbreakable."

Torchic rose and attacked again. This time, his claws glowed white, and he left three claw marks in the rock.

"Awesome! Now, do it again!"

Torchic attacked again, this time with no results.

"Alright, we have to continue until you can perform it at will."

They continued their training until 8 o' clock, sometimes taking a short breather. Torchic could pull off the move four out of five times by the time their stomachs growled. They worked for another half hour, seeing as the cafeteria opened at nine. When they finished, Torchic had executed ten consecutive Metal Claws.

"Great job, buddy," praised Tom. Torchic chirped happily in reply.

Tom returned Torchic and began walking back to the room to rest a little before breakfast. On the way, Tom noticed that the Poké Mart was open. He had never been inside one, so he decided to look at the merchandise. He saw a row full of canned Poké food and looked around at them. They were separated into different types, sizes, weight, and even stats. He decided to buy some food for fire, grass, water, and electric types. He paid 200 Poké for it and continued back the Center. When he came within distance, he was surprised to see Kelli and Riley come running up to him.

"Tom! You've gotta do something!" shouted Riley.

"We were battling for practice when that grunt from yesterday showed up and netted our Pokémon!" yelled Kelli.

"What?!"

"Pikachu tried to shock him, but the guy's gloves were made of rubber and he got caught, too!"

"Darn! Where'd it happen?"

"We were out behind the Poké Center," answered Kelli.

"C'mon, show me!"

They ran for the Center, heading for the clearing behind it. When they got there, Tom looked around.

"Riley, did you use Mud-Slap during the battle?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"How many times?"

"Um… three I think, why?"

"Look at all the mud in that direction."

He pointed to a group of mud puddles that formed a line that led to the forest

"Your Mudkip is leaving us a trail. We have to find them before the grunt finds out!"

They ran into the forest, praying that the trail was still a secret. After about fifteen minutes of running, they heard a loud voice.

"You little vermin! What have you been spitting?!"

They passed a few more trees before they caught sight of the grunt. It appeared that he had transferred the Pokémon from nets into a cage.

"Found you!" yelled Tom.

"Darn it! You led them to us, you pest!" the grunt screamed at Mudkip.

"Don't blame him! Your stench is so foul, I could already smell you a mile away!"

"Wanna say that again, brat?! I'll destroy you this time!"

The grunt tossed three Poké balls. Out of them came an Aron, Poochyena, and a Zubat.

"Hah! With this team my comrades sent over, you're done for!" cackled the grunt.

"And you're in over your head! Go, Torchic!"

Torchic was released from his ball. The problem was that he hadn't completely recovered from training.

'_I've got to finish this fast!'_ thought Tom. "Torchic, Ember!"

Torchic fired his darts of flame at the group.

"Aron! Mud-Slap!"

The Aron sprayed mud over the attack, putting out most of the flames. The few flames that made it through fizzled out soon after. Tom growled.

"Torchic, charge 'em!"

"What?!" exclaimed Kelli, Riley, and the grunt.

Torchic ran forward at Poochyena, who was in the center of the three.

"He's mad! Aron! Another Mud-Slap!"

Torchic heard this and suddenly changed course, putting him between Aron and Poochyena. Just as Aron was about to attack, Torchic jumped up, causing the attack to hit Poochyena and blind him. As Torchic was in the air, he fired an Ember at Aron, not giving him a chance to counter. When he landed, he was near the grunt. The Zubat had begun a dive for Torchic.

"Torchic, jump!"

Torchic jumped just before Zubat hit him, making the bat crash into his owner, who let the cage fly from his grip.

"Torchic, break open the cage!"

"No!"

As soon as Torchic landed, he made another jump toward the cage. He twisted in the air, and his claws shone white as he cleaved through the cage in one swift strike.

"Whoa!" yelled Riley and Kelli in surprise.

"Admire later, battle now!" shouted Tom.

"Right!"

As Torchic landed, he stumbled and fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"Pikachu, protect Torchic! Mudkip, help Treecko battle the others!" commanded Riley, just as angry as he was determined.

"You stupid brats! I'll beat you down 'til you can't move!" roared the grunt.

"We'll see who beats down who!" fumed Kelli, "Treecko, Pound that dumb mutt!"

Treecko, who for the first time looked angry due to his battle being interrupted, charged Poochyena and hit him with his tail as hard as he could. Poochyena hit a tree and fainted immediately. Treecko then turned to Aron and his eyes glowed yellow from his Absorb technique. Aron cringed and promptly fainted. Just as Mudkip was charging Zubat for a Tackle, Treecko sped past him with his newly learned Quick Attack, which knocked Zubat to the ground, out cold. The grunt realized his situation and turned to run, but Treecko sped in front of him, jumped, and whacked him in the face with his tail, knocking him out. Treecko then jumped on the grunt's chest and huffed triumphantly.

They entire group was silent before Kelli spoke.

"Is anyone afraid of him right now?"

Tom and Riley nodded.

"Good. Glad it's not just me."

*back at the Oldale Police Department*

"Thanks kids. We've been trying to catch this guy for a while now, but he's pretty quick on his feet," said the chief, while two officers put the grunt in their car.

"Not as quick as my Treecko!" sang Kelli as she hugged her once again calm Pokémon.

"But I didn't know he could get so mad," commented Tom, "He always seemed so mellow."

"Well, the important thing is that you caught the man who has been stealing beginners' Pokémon for weeks, and thanks to that trail, we now have an idea of where to search for his hideout," continued the chief, as he pulled out an envelope, "Here is the reward money for helping to catch the thief. It's actually been tripled since you did all the work."

Tom smiled politely.

"Thanks officer, but we don't need-OW!"

Kelli stepped forward, smiling innocently and pretending she hadn't just stepped on Tom's foot.

"What he meant to say was 'Thank you. We were happy to help,'" she said as she took the envelope from the chief.

"Well kids, I have to go put this bum in the cell with the smelly lunatics."

"Don't do that," said Tom, "He'll feel right at home. Put him with the smart ones so he'll feel inferior."

The chief laughed. "That does sound entertaining. I'll do that. Take care of yourselves," he said before getting in his car and driving away.

"Hey!" yelled Kelli.

"What?" asked Riley.

"This is 1500 Poké! We're rich!" she squealed.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm already rich. That's why you decided to live off me, remember?"

"Then I guess that means you don't need your share?" Kelli asked.

"What? Hey!" shouted Tom as Riley and Kelli divided up the money. _'Me and my big mouth.'_ Suddenly, his stomach gave a loud growl, reminding him that he hadn't had lunch.

"Whatever. I'm gonna go get some food."

The others were too busy thinking about what to buy to hear him.

* * *

**I made the grunt faint. LOL XP**

**Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of the my character. Ex: If you want a Swampert, and I use your character in the next chapter, it will start as Mudkip and grow as the story progresses. History might also be different or not mentioned. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. If you don't submit a character, review anyway. Thanks! :)**

_**Attention! I have decided to post which Pokémon you should NOT put in your party at this point if you want your character used.**_

_**Any starter that has appeared; I won't use the same one twice.**_

_**Charmander, Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Jolteon. I've already picked trainers for them.**_

_**Lucario and Metagross; too darn powerful despite being awesome.**_

_**Trainers with more than one starter or Eevee form (I might accept ONE Eevee form if I like your character a lot).**_

_**Legendaries, duh.**_

_**Pikachu. I like him, but two is too much.**_

_**Shinnies. Just don't do anything for me.**_

_**If you put one of these in already, PM me with a short message with full party to correct. **_

**Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...**


	4. Farewells and New Recruits

**Disclaimer: Don't own Pokémon.**

**An OC Story**

* * *

By the time Kelli and Riley got back to the Center, Tom was already done eating.

"What took you guys so long?" asked Tom as he threw away his trash, "I even had time for seconds."

"We went to the Poké Mart to buy some things with our reward money," explained Kelli.

Tom grit his teeth at the memory of not receiving his share. "That reminds me," he said, "I stopped there on the way back from training and bought food for all of our Pokémon."

Riley frowned. "But I just filled my backpack with Poké food."

"Oh. That's okay then," said Tom with a smile, though his mind chanted, _'WASTED MONEY… WASTED MONEY…'_

"Well guys, I think it's about time that I set out on my own," said Riley.

"Huh? But why?" asked Kelli.

"Tom has already taught Torchic a new move since our battle, and when we have our rematch, I want to be able to surprise each other with what we've learned."

"I couldn't agree more," added Tom with a grin as he locked eyes with Riley, "Next time, I'll have Torchic so much stronger, your Pikachu will be the one who can't afford to take a hit."

"Hey, don't assume we won't get stronger too!" said Riley. He then turned to the doors and walked away. "Until next time, guys," was the last thing he said before the doors closed behind him.

* * *

After Kellie had finally eaten her lunch, the two companions packed up their belongings and headed out to Route 102. They hadn't gone far when they saw water through the trees to the right. Curious, they walked through the trees and found a pleasant surprise. There was a small, yet clear and beautiful, pond in the middle of the forest.

"Wow…" Kelli whispered, "It's so pretty…"

"Why are you whispering?" asked Tom. Kelli kicked him in the shin.

"OW! What was that for?!"

"You ruined the moment!"

"Moment of what?!"

"_Surs!"_

"_Zagoon!"_

The pair's argument was cut short by the cries of two Pokémon. They looked to their right to find a Surskit and a Zigzagoon staring at them with a look of irritation.

"Aw! They're so cute!"

"Yeah, yeah. The pond is what's cool. I could probably count all the Pokémon swimming in it from here. It's so clear!"

He brought out an empty water bottle and stepped toward the edge of the water, when suddenly the Surskit and Zigzagoon had jumped in front of him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"They probably think that you were going to do something to their lake," said Kelli.

Tom frowned. "Bummer. I wanted a taste."

"Don't worry you'll get it," said Kelli as she took out Treecko's ball. Tom's eyebrows rose.

"Don't tell me you're—"

"Go, Treecko!" Kelli tossed the ball and released Treecko, who gave an indifferent stare at the Pokémon in front of him.

"Treecko, Quick Attack!" Treecko grinned and in a flash, he rammed into Surskit before Pounding Zigzagoon in the head. Zigzagoon became dizzy and Kelli threw a Pokéball at him. It swallowed him and fell to the ground, wiggling before becoming calm.

"Yes!" cried Kelli.

"Don't ignore the other one," reminded Tom.

Kelli looked toward the pond to see Surskit standing on the surface. He then let out a stream of slow-moving bubbles at Treecko. Treecko blinked, then as the bubbles got close, he blew them away gently. Tom was dumbstruck.

"What kind of attack was that?"

Treecko then used Absorb on Surskit, who began to wobble. Kelli took her chance and threw a ball. It hit Surskit, who was immediately captured, but the ball fell into the water and began to sink.

"Hey!" yelled Kelli, "Come back here!"

"Calm down." Kelli turned to see that Tom had taken off his shoes and socks and was proceeding to remove his shirt. "I'll get it back for you," he said as he dropped his shirt and walked to the edge of the pond. Just as he got near, something huge suddenly rose above the surface. It was a Gyarados. Kelli screamed and hid behind a tree to watch. Tom actually wanted to run, but Kelli's Pokéball was at the bottom of the lake and his stuff was on the ground a few feet away. As he looked up at the Gyarados, he noticed that three spikes on the forehead were unusual compared to the pictures he had studied. The two on the sides were bent upward, making them seem to form a trident, or crown. He lowed his head so that he was at eye level with Tom.

"Uh… hello…um," Tom looked around for something to give him an idea of what to say. His eyes stopped on Gyarados's spikes. "King Gyarados."

The Gyarados seemed surprised yet intrigued by his new title, which Tom took note of.

"I'm very sorry to intrude, _Your Majesty_," continued Tom, adding a slight emphasis to the last part, "but my friend has dropped a Pokéball in your pond. I was only going to retrieve it and leave."

The flattery and formality seemed to do the trick, as Gyarados made what Tom assumed was a grin and dove under the water. A few moments later, he resurfaced, with the Pokéball firmly but carefully lodged in between two fangs. Tom took the ball from him.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," said Tom with a bow. The Gyarados let out a low rumbling sound, which Tom guessed was his way of talking. He opened his mouth to apoligize for not understanding, until he felt Treecko tug on his pants leg. He looked down to see Treecko pointing at the lake, and then at his things.

"May I bottle some of the water?" he asked. Gyarados nodded. Tom smiled and retrieved two water bottles before filling them to the brim. "Thank you very much! We have to be going now. We want to travel a little more before dark." Gyarados gave another low rumble before diving back into the water. Tom put his shirt and shoes back on and picked up his stuff when he noticed Kelli staring at him.

"What?"

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Control that Gyarados, of course." Tom snorted.

"That wasn't controlling. That is what you call sucking up."

He began to walk the direction they came back onto the road, and Kelli followed close behind.

After they were out of sight, a figure stepped out from the opposite side of the pond. She wore a black uniform and white boots. Her hair was red and stopped at her shoulders. She had seen the entire thing. She strolled right up to the edge and was about to stick her foot in when Gyarados resurfaced. He glared at the woman with more intensity than he did with Tom, but she didn't flinch. She merely smirked and said, "Good evening, Your Highness. I've come to relieve you of your throne."

* * *

The next morning, Tom woke up late. He climbed out of his sleeping bag and expected to see Kelli up already, but she was asleep just like he had been. He got his things packed and ready to go, but she still hadn't woken up. He finally stopped waiting and walked over to her. He bent over so his head was directly above hers.

"Kelli-"

WHACK!

"OW!" cried both the young trainers.

"What did you hit me for?!" yelled Kelli.

"Me?! You're the one who just whacked me in the face with your head! And your head is hard!"

"Well, your face must not be too soft either!"

Tom grunted. "Well, get up. I want to get to Petalburg City before lunch and that gives us 2 hours."

"What?! It's already that late?!" exclaimed Kelli as she hopped up and began packing.

They set off at a brisk pace and when they reached the top of a hill, they caught a glimpse of some rooftops.

"Alright, we should be there in no time!" said Tom.

He took a step forward when he tripped on something and fell forward. He began rolling down the hill and ended up on his back at the bottom of the hill. He heard something roll past him before Kelli came running down the hill.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Tom sat up with a growl, quite peeved at how his day was starting.

"What the hell did I trip over?!"

"Yep, you're fine. That thing rolled down with you," Kelli replied, pointing. Tom followed her finger.

"Isn't that a…Seedot?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered, looking it over. It appeared to have become dizzy after rolling down the hill.

"Well, this isn't the normal way to catch Pokémon, but he'll probably come in handy," he said. He hit him with a Pokéball and Seedot was sucked in. It wiggled a few times before stopping.

"Wow! That was so cool! Your skills are amazing!" Kelli sang sarcastically.

"Shut up. At least I didn't throw mine in the water."

He soon regretted his words as Kelli kicked him in the shin.

* * *

**Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of the my character. Ex: If you want a Swampert, and I use your character in the next chapter, it will start as Mudkip and grow as the story progresses. History might also be different or not mentioned. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. If you don't submit a character, review anyway. Thanks! :)**

_**Attention! I have decided to post which Pokémon you should ****NOT**** put in your party at this point if you want your character used.**_

_**Any starter that has appeared; I won't use the same one twice.**_

_**Charmander, Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Jolteon. I've already picked trainers for them.**_

_**Lucario and Metagross; too darn powerful despite being awesome.**_

_**Trainers with more than one starter or Eevee form (I might accept ONE Eevee form if I like your character a lot).**_

_**Legendaries, duh.**_

_**Pikachu. I like him, but two is too much.**_

_**Shinnies. Just don't do anything for me.**_

_**If you put one of these in already, PM me with a short message with full party to correct.**_

**Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...**


	5. Threats and Resistance

**Hey readers! Once again, it took me a long time to post this, but this is my longest chapter yet and it was difficult to write. So you better like it!!! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, alright?**

**An OC Story**

* * *

Just as Tom and Kelli arrived at Petalburg, Tom noticed a crowd gathering at the Pokémon Center. He frowned. Whatever it was, he was sure it wasn't anything good. He ran over, prompting Kelli to chase after him. Tom pushed through the crowd to the front. The city police had formed a ring around the entrance to prevent anyone from going in further. He could see the nurse of the center talking anxiously to an officer. He felt Kelli come up next to him and got an idea.

"Excuse me! Nurse! Our Pokémon need healing!"

Kelli gave him a strange look, and he looked back with an expression that said 'just go along with it.' Despite the situation, the nurse felt that running the center was a priority, so she had the police allow them inside and excused herself from the officer. Inside, the pair handed her their Pokémon. As she placed the balls into a machine for healing, Tom began to ask her his questions.

"So, what's the big fuss outside about," he asked. She looked at him and frowned.

"This morning, a ransom note was left behind at the entrance," she explained gloomily.

"What were they demanding?"

"They wanted all the Pokémon stored in the Pokémon Center."

"What?!" yelled Kelli, "What could they have that would be worth that?!"

"They don't have anything, but…" she paused. "They threatened to destroy the city."

Kelli gasped. Tom was speechless. He grit his teeth as he forced himself to continue asking questions.

"What time will they be here?"

"They said to have our answer ready by 3 o' clock."

"How many trainers stay in the Gym besides the Leader?"

The nurse gave him a confused look. "Eight, but the Leader himself isn't here; he went to visit his family in Littleroot Town."

Tom growled. Of course he wasn't here. Whoever they were knew better than to attack a Town with a Gym Leader.

"One more thing, who wrote the letter?"

"We don't know who it was, but the bottom of the note had a large red R stamped on it."

He should have figured. There was no other group of criminals large and powerful enough to threaten a city.

"Thanks, we'll be back for our Pokémon. Come on, Kelli!" he said hurriedly while running out the door. Kelli followed him straight to the police chief.

"Excuse me, sir."

The chief looked down in irritation.

"What do you want, kid?" he huffed, "Can't you see we're in a serious situation?"

"That's what I wanted to speak to you about."

The police chief raised an eyebrow. He didn't know how old this kid was, but he knew he'd never seen someone so young act so seriously.

"Alright then, spill it," he said.

"The group that's coming is Team Rocket."

"What?! Are you sure?!"

"Yes. We ran into one before when he tried to steal our Pokémon. He had the same R on his uniform that you found on the note."

"This is worse than we thought," stated the chief grimly, "They will definitely use Pokémon, and we will not have any way to stop them without hurting those Pokémon."

"That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about," he said, regaining the chief's attention, "We should gather the trainers from the Gym and set up a defense. Five gym trainers can take the west entrance while we and the remaining trainers will take the east."

"Are you suggesting we let a bunch of kids fight to protect the city while we sit back and do nothing?!" exclaimed the chief.

"Of course not. I'm just saying we'll be the first line of defense. You can stand behind us, and if we lose, we'll run and you can take over."

The chief thought for a moment before saying, "Okay, then. I'll visit the Gym to tell the trainers of your plan. You should get some rest and something to eat if you haven't already."

"Yes sir." The chief walked off and Tom turned to Kelli. She was shaking hard and biting her lip.

"What's wrong?" asked Tom.

"'What's wrong?'" fumed Kelli, "Do you know what you just did?! YOU SIGNED US UP FOR A FREAKING WAR!"

Tom flinched. "Y-Yeah, I guess I did do something similar to that, didn't I?"

"Yeah you did! What do we do?! We're too young to handle this kind of battle!"

Tom lifted his hand to his head. "You're right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just assumed you would fight. You can stay at the Pokémon Center."

"Nuh-uh! I don't think so!" yelled Kelli, "If this is too important for you to turn your back on, then there's no way I'm letting you go out there on your own!" She looked angry, but at the same time, she was on the verge of tears. When Tom's surprise faded away, his expression softened and he smiled.

"Thanks, Kelli, I'll be very relieved to know you're fighting beside me."

Kelli's tears began to fall, and she started to hiccup softly. Tom took her by the hand and led her toward the Center.

"Come on, let's get you inside. Hey, do you want me to ask the cafeteria to make you some soup?"

Kelli gave a sniff and nodded.

"Alright, then afterwards you can take a short rest, okay?"

"Okay," she whimpered.

"Don't worry. We'll be fine. I promise."

* * *

Tom looked at his watch. It was nearly time. He stood at the east entrance with the rest of his group. Kelli stood to his left. She had calmed down, but still fidgeted with nervousness. The three trainers from the gym were standing to his right. Two were boys and the third was a girl. One boy had brown hair and black eyes, and the other two had blonde hair and blue eyes, as if they were related. The weather fit the mood as grey clouds covered the entire sky.

Suddenly, Tom caught sight of nine figures making their way toward them. The boy with the black eyes brought out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"West group, this is East group, we've spotted nine figures approaching our position. Requesting back up."

"_Sorry man, you're out of luck. We have ten of the creeps coming our way,"_ came the reply. The boy sighed.

"Looks like we're on our own guys," he said to the group. They all looked forward, waiting to confront their enemies. As they got closer, Tom saw that most of the figures were dressed exactly like the guy he had captured with Kelli and Riley. However, three of them had red gloves and boots instead of white, but only one stuck out completely. She wore no hat, had red hair, and loop-earrings. Her jade green eyes had a scary shine to them. Finally, the Rockets stopped about a couple dozen feet away. The red-haired woman stepped forward, a sinister smirk planted on her face.

"I take it from the looks on your faces, you plan to resist," she said as if she thought it was an amusing joke, "but all I see are a bunch of brats. Do you really think you have any hope?"

Tom smiled. "Of course we do. You've given us the greatest advantage point." _'That being that you're underestimating us.'_

"Your bluffing child, but I have to say, you look pretty convincing. Maybe you should have taken acting instead of becoming a trainer," she laughed.

"That would never be interesting enough for me."

"I see, well, I'll try to make this very interesting for you then. Go, my elite grunts!" she commanded.

The three grunts with red gloves and boots stepped forward and each took out a single Pokéball. They threw them simultaneously. Three large figures emerged.

"_Sandslash!"_

"_Arrrrbok!"_

"_Golbaaaat!"_

Tom frowned. He was hoping they wouldn't be so high leveled. The trainers from the gym stepped up.

"We can tell you're still green," the blonde boy said to Tom and Kelli, "So we'll handle these guys." They tossed their Pokéballs.

"_Linoone!"_

"_Zaaangoose!"_

"_Loudred!"_

"Okay, then we'll take the weaker ones," said Tom, "You ready, Kelli?"

Kelli swallowed and nodded. Tom ran to pass the three grunt elites, but they weren't too thrilled with that.

"Sandslash! Carve them up with Slash!"

Tom and Kelli stopped to see Sandslash charging at them with an upraised claw. Tom pulled Kelli behind him. Just as the Sandslash was about to strike, the blonde boy's Zangoose ran in between them, parrying the attack before knocking Sandslash back into Arbok with a Mega Punch.

"Don't get distracted! We'll keep these guys away from you!" the trainer called. Tom and Kelli continued around until they were met by the lesser grunts.

"Look at this, boys," one of them laughed, "The runts have decided to put on a little show for us!"

"They look like they need some audience participation!" said another as he tossed two Pokéballs. The rest quickly followed suit. Ten flashes of light blinded the two. When they looked up, a small army of Pokémon stood (or flew) in a line. There were three Zubat, two Ekans, two Sandshrew, and three Rattata. Tom and Kelli wasted no time in calling out all five of their Pokémon.

Kelli took the first move. "Alright you guys, use the strategy we worked on at the Pokémon Center!"

Treecko and Surskit simultaneously sped to the right, where a Rattata was positioned at the very end of the line. The grunts were too surprised to make a move. Surskit rammed into the Rattata, sending it into the air. Treecko then followed up by hitting the rat with his own attack in midair, sending the Pokémon even further into the air. As it was falling, Zigzagoon jumped and hit with a Tackle, making it fall to the ground, immediately defeated. The Rattata's owner was furious. He turned to the other Pokémon.

"Don't just sit there!" he screamed, "Attack them!"

The small army charged at the three Pokémon in a group.

"Torchic, Ember!"

Torchic dashed between his opponents and allies and launched his attack. Tom noticed that the move had grown in power. Where there had been tiny dart-like flames, were now small fireballs. The attack hit nearly every enemy. The only two that had escaped were a single Ekans and Sandshrew.

"Imbeciles!" yelled another one of the grunts, "Spread yourselves out!" They quickly did so. "Now, time for an aerial attack!"

The three Zubat dove in a V-formation. Suddenly, Seedot jumped in front of Torchic.

"Ignore it!" cried the grunt, "If you hit it, it will throw your attacks back at you!"

The Zubat attempted to fly over Seedot. "Seedot, attack!" commanded Tom.

Seedot jumped into a Headbutt, hitting the leading Zubat. The other two were thrown off by the surprise, and Treecko and Zigzagoon took the chance to hit them to the ground.

"What's going on?" asked a grunt as they all stood in shock.

Tom smirked.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Tom's eyes widened as he checked over his Pokédex again. He had been looking over Seedot's data in order to create a strategy with him. He did not expect that he knew two extra moves. Tom turned to the blonde girl on his team._

"_Excuse me, but I thought that Seedot only originally know Bide."_

_The girl looked at his Pokédex with interest._

"_Hmm, you're very lucky. You see, when Pokémon lay eggs, sometimes their moves will be learned instinctively by the baby when they hatch. These are known as Egg moves."_

"_And these are two of those Egg moves?"_

_The girl nodded. Tom looked back at his Pokédex before grinning. He knew exactly what to do.

* * *

_

This was Tom's plan: surprise and frustrate the enemy to take control of the battle early on. The more you frustrate the enemy the more mistakes they will make. Of course, this strategy would only work against the weak and simple-minded. But those words fit his opponents perfectly, and within the span of five minutes, all the enemy's Pokémon were strewn across the ground, unconscious. The grunts were frozen in fury, but the sound of footsteps behind them quickly snapped them out of it. They turned to see the woman with red hair, still sporting her evil smirk, but there was a calm fury in her eyes that made even Tom sweat a little.

"Lady Viicka!" cried one of the grunts, falling to his hands ands and knees, "Please forgive us!" The rest of the grunts followed his example.

"Here are your three 'elites,'" said a voice from behind Tom. The three 'elite' grunts were thrown to ground among the rest. The Gym trainers walked up next to Tom and Kelli.

"Looks like you two kept your end of the deal; I'm impressed," said the boy with the black eyes. He raised his walkie-talkie to his mouth and spoke, "West group, what's your status?"

"_Everything's good on our end. We've put the enemy on the run."_

The red haired lady, apparently called Viicka, was now standing in front of her grunts.

"Back to the base, all of you," she spat.

The grunts looked at her in confusion. Only one had the courage to speak. "Ma'am?"

"If I get back and find even one of you slacking off in training, you'll all be fed to my pet," she said in such a calm threat that it was freaky.

The grunts all let out a hurried "Yes ma'am!" before taking off down the road away from the city. The blonde boy stepped forward. "You're all alone now, so what do you think you're gonna do?"

Viicka grinned. "I have an interest in that boy," she explained, pointing to Tom.

"Why?" asked Tom suspiciously.

"You kids were impressive against so many enemies," she said, "but I can tell that you were the one behind it all."

"What if I wasn't?"

"You have a look of strong confidence, yet you lack arrogance. That shows that you know your stuff, boy. So tell me, what's your name?"

Tom smiled. "What reason do I have to tell you?"

"Hmph. Very well, but I have a small request of you."

Tom raised his eyebrows, indicating that he was listening.

"Face me in a battle alone, two-on-two."

"No way!" cut in Kelli, "Why should he follow your rules when you've already broken them?!"

"Yeah! We should all attack you right now!" agreed the girl.

"Wait, guys," said Tom. The others quickly hushed. Tom then lowered his voice to a whisper. "This could work for us. All her goons have been wiped out and her confidence hasn't dropped a bit. I'll battle her and most likely lose, so you guys need to watch how she battles and try to develop a strategy against her, okay?"

The gym trainers were hesitant, but Kelli agreed immediately. She'd seen how well his strategies worked and had faith in him. Tom turned back to Viicka.

"Alright, I accept," he said.

"Excellent. Let's begin. Go, Graveler!" she yelled, releasing the boulder Pokémon.

"Seedot, you're up!"

"Graveler, use Rock Throw!"

"Seedot, jump away and use Bullet Seed!"

Graveler jumped amazingly high for its weight. It then began to fall towards Seedot. Seedot jumped backwards and shot Graveler in midair with his second Egg move. Graveler winced at the super effective attack and lost focus. It landed on its back with a crash.

"Get up and use Rollout!"

Graveler rose to its feet and curled into a ball before rolling towards Seedot.

"Seedot, dodge and use Bullet Seed!"

Seedot jumped to the side while Graveler rolled right past him. He then turned and shot his attack at Graveler. The seeds hit, but with Graveler rolling more and more quickly, it was difficult to tell if any damage had been done. Graveler wheeled around and headed toward Seedot.

"Seedot, do it again!"

Once again, Seedot dodged and attacked Graveler, but Graveler kept on rolling. All Tom could do was pray that they were doing some damage and continue attacking. However, Graveler was increasing speed, and Tom could tell that Seedot was having a tough time dodging. After Seedot had dodged about fifteen times, Graveler reached a speed that was too great for Seedot to dodge, and the attack sent him flying. Tom was certain that the attack would have too much power for Seedot to stand, so he recalled him to his ball before he hit the ground. Graveler skidded to a halt and uncurled. Tom noticed that its breathing was slightly labored.

'_Good. We've been doing damage. Thanks, Seedot.'_

"Go, Torchic!"

Torchic appeared in a flash of light. He stared down Graveler's confident grin with a determined glare.

"Graveler, again! Rollout!"

Once more, Graveler curled into a ball and began rolling toward Torchic. Tom had no way to counter this other than using the same strategy as with Seedot, this time, using Ember. He knew it would not do nearly as much damage, but he had no other choice. Luckily, Torchic was much faster than Seedot and had an easier time dodging Graveler. For a while, Torchic would dodge and assault Graveler with fireballs, with no sign of results. After twenty counters, Tom decided the to take a gamble.

"Torchic! After you dodge this attack, use Focus Energy and stand still!"

Torchic dodged Graveler's attack and began to glow faintly. Viicka laughed.

"Like even a critical hit will do enough damage to beat Graveler! Go, flatten that bird!"

Graveler turned and rumbled towards Torchic.

"Torchic, when I give the signal, jump straight up!"

Torchic chirped in understanding and remained still. Tom eyed Graveler intently. He'd have only one chance and he needed to get the timing perfectly. He waited until Graveler was a couple meters away from Torchic.

"Now!"

Torchic jumped up right as Graveler came under him.

"Metal Claw!"

Torchic somersaulted and swiped a bright, metallic claw into Graveler as he rolled under. A loud noise was made as the trainers and the audience saw shards of Graveler's rocky skin get torn away. Graveler continued rolling, but instead of turning like usual, it crashed into a tree. The tree stopped Graveler completely and he did not rise.

"Yes! One down Torchic!" Tom yelled in triumph. He then winced as a bright light hit his eyes. He shielded his eyes as he looked at Torchic, who was emitting the light. He watched as Torchic's outline grew larger and changed shape. Suddenly, the light vanished as quickly as it came, and where Torchic once stood was a slightly short, but tough fowl-like humanoid. He turned his head toward to Tom and opened his beak.

"_Combusken!"_

Tom stared in awe before smiling.

'_So that was evolution, huh?'_ he thought, _'I won't be getting tired of seeing that.'_

His thoughts were interrupted by maniacal laughter from the Rocket Commander. Her head was thrown back and her eyes were watery. Tom felt a chill run down his spine.

"It's hilarious! Absolutely hilarious!" she cried in between her fits of laughter.

"What's so funny?!" yelled Tom. He was seriously worried. What could make her so confident?

"How hopeless you are!" Viicka answered with a sneer, "Everything is going your way, yet you haven't got a chance of winning!"

"You don't know that yet!"

Viicka laughed again. "We'll see if you can keep saying that! Go, my pet!"

Tom watched as she threw a black Pokéball. When it opened, the creature inside towered over Tom's group. Tom trembled as he looked into the eyes of a Gyarados with spikes on his head resembling a crown.

* * *

**Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of the my character. Ex: If you want a Swampert, and I use your character in the next chapter, it will start as Mudkip and grow as the story progresses. History might also be different or not mentioned. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. If you don't submit a character, review anyway. Thanks! :)**

_**Attention! I have decided to post which Pokémon you should NOT put in your party at this point if you want your character used.**_

_**Any starter that has appeared; I won't use the same one twice.**_

_**Charmander, Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Jolteon. I've already picked trainers for them.**_

_**Lucario and Metagross; too darn powerful despite being awesome.**_

_**Trainers with more than one starter or Eevee form (I might accept ONE Eevee form if I like your character a lot).**_

_**Legendaries, duh.**_

_**Pikachu. I like him, but two is too much.**_

_**Shinnies. Just don't do anything for me.**_

_**If you put one of these in already, PM me with a short message with full party to correct.**_

**Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...**


	6. Machines, Saviors, and Twins

**I apologize for the lateness of this update; it's EXTREMELY overdue. For what it's worth though, I don't get many reviews since the beginning of the story, and those are a major source of motivation. What I'm trying to say is: please review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, kapeesh?**

**An OC Story**

* * *

Tom shook in fear as he looked up at Gyarados. Something about him was even scarier than the first time they met. The intimidating stare that Gyarados gave him was mechanical…and empty.

"What did you do to him?" he asked the Rocket Commander, finally taking his gaze away from Gyarados.

"You're very observant, boy. See that metallic collar near his head?"

Tom looked up at Gyarados and indeed there was a collar around his neck, with many different lights and meters on it.

"That," continued Viicka, "is one of the results of the years of our research while in hiding."

"Is it one of those mind-control type things?" asked Tom. Viicka laughed.

"You've seen movies with mind control, right boy? Well those are based off of real events that were kept secret, and they all had the same flaw: the mind can overpower it. So we've taken a step further with our Mind Replacement machines!"

"Mind Replacement?"

Viicka grinned. "I suppose I can explain, since you won't be going anywhere. It basically cuts off all brain signals to the body and replaces them with different signals, including their natural instincts. Why don't I give you a demonstration?"

She pressed some buttons on a remote and Gyarados aimed at Combusken while gathering energy in his mouth.

"Combusken, get back!" yelled Tom.

Combusken jumped back just as Gyarados fired a Hyper Beam at him. The attack hit the ground and exploded. The shockwave knocked Tom and his group off their feet. Tom looked up and froze at the sight of what had happened. The spot where the attack had hit was gone, replaced by a large hole. Tom got up and walked to the edge of the hole. He couldn't see the bottom. Viicka laughed at his reaction.

"You might not know this, but Pokémon have an instinctive limit to their powers. To most people this limit is known as 'level 100.' This keeps their powers from reaching lethal levels, but with that instinct removed…well, you get the picture."

Tom started to run to the rest of his group. They needed to run; there wasn't anything they could do against a monstrous power like that. Just as he was about to yell at them to run for their lives, he heard Viicka give a command.

"Hit them with Water Pulse!"

Tom looked back and saw Gyarados release the largest sphere of water he had ever seen straight at him. Even after it hit him, it was too large to be stopped, and it ran into Kelli, Combusken, and the gym trainers as well, knocking them to the ground again. After the water had washed away and they could breathe again, Tom tried to stand, but his legs felt like jelly and the wind had been knocked out of him. He stumbled a few steps before falling again. The only one who was able to stand was Combusken, and he wasn't feeling too terrific either. Viicka's cruel laugh rang in his ears.

"Look at all the helpless kiddies! Which one should go first? Should it be you?" She pointed at Tom, "Or you?" she shifted her finger toward the blonde boy, who shivered in fear, "No, I think it'll be…you." She finally focused on Kelli.

"No!" yelled Tom, "Combusken! Fire your strongest Ember at the collar on Gyarados!"

Combusken launched dozens of fireballs at Gyarados, most of which hit the machine, but it didn't seem to even take a scratch. Not only that, but Gyarados didn't seem to react to the attack at all. Viicka laughed wickedly.

"Nice try, boy, but this machine is made out of the strongest metal found anywhere, and it can even withstand up to 50,000 volts of electricity. There's no way to break it!"

Tom watched helplessly as Gyarados prepared its attack. Kelli was exhausted and couldn't move. Suddenly, a new voice cried out.

"Go, Gardevoir!"

A tall, white and green Pokémon that looked like it was wearing a dress appeared in front of Kelli, and then a girl jumped out from the trees beside her companion. She looked to be Tom's age, possibly older. Her skin was a little pale. She had elbow-length white hair with side-bangs, in addition to a pair of bright red eyes. She wore a white collared shirt under a black cardigan, with sleeves rolled up to the elbows. She also wore black jeans and black combat boots.

Gyarados fired his Hyper Beam straight at the girl and her Gardevoir.

"Psychic!" she shouted.

Gardevoir's eyes shimmered and she appeared to be straining. Suddenly, the Hyper Beam was split into several much smaller beams that shot out in different directions, which narrowly missed the group. One came awfully close to Tom's cheek and he felt the heat radiating from it.

"What have we here?" asked Viicka, one of her eyebrows raised in curiosity. She looked irritated too, which looked strange after seeing her acting so confident and superior. The new girl looked at her partner, who was panting from only splitting apart the powerful attack.

"Okay, Gardevoir. We have to use the emergency method." The Gardevoir nodded in understanding. "Teleport, Version 2!"

Gardevoir's eyes shimmered again.

"Wait!" shouted Viicka, "What are you-"

In a flash of light, Viicka and Gyarados disappeared.

The entire group was silent as they took in the situation. When they allowed themselves to believe they were safe, they collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. The girl sighed.

"Let's get busy Gardevoir. We should get these guys to the Pokémon Center."

* * *

Later that evening, Tom and Kelli sat in the lobby of the Pokémon Center with the girl, whose name was Friday Rammsteiner. The trainers had already returned to the Gym. Tom and Kelli were telling Friday exactly what was happening before she showed up. She was impressed to hear that they had held their own despite not being trainers for even a week.

"We're only doing well because Tom is a know-it-all," said Kelli.

"I'll pretend that was a compliment," said Tom.

"He's not just a know-it-all if he can think up those strategies on the spot," said Friday matter-of-factly.

"I just want to keep him from becoming full of himself."

"Oh."

"Hey! I'm not one of those kinds of guys! I'm very careful and aware of how I act!"

"Whatever," replied Kelli. Then she remembered something. "Hey, Friday, where did you send that woman anyway?"

Friday grinned. "Oh, just somewhere in the middle of the ocean."

"WHAT?!" replied the two.

"Chill out. She has that Gyarados, so she won't drown. She'll just have no clue of where she is for a while."

The group paused to imagine it and then burst into laughter. When they stopped, Tom spoke.

"Thanks for that. If you hadn't shown up when you did, we'd have been toast. Why were you here anyway?"

"I caught wind of the attack and came to see if I could help. I had already been headed this way, but when I heard of the attack I decided to have Gardevoir Teleport us here. Problem is, Gardevoir has trouble teleporting somewhere she hasn't been, so I was lost in the woods for a while. Eventually, I heard a huge blast and headed in that direction."

"What were you coming here for?" asked Kelli.

"I'm going to challenge the Gym Leader!"

"Really? Well you're out of luck. He went to visit his family and I don't know when he's comin' back," explained Tom.

"That's okay. I'll just hang here until he returns," Friday replied indifferently, "And I'll train in the meantime."

"Oh. Well, we're going to keep traveling to the next city in the morning."

"Why don't we stay here and wait for the Gym Leader too?" asked Kelli.

"Are you kidding? He's way out of our league. We need more experience before we face him," said Tom, "He's one of the higher ranking Gym Leaders."

"Anyway," cut in Friday, "if you plan on going to Rustboro City, then you'll have to pass through Petalburg Forest."

"I know," said Tom, "but that shouldn't be a big problem."

"No, it wouldn't be normally," agreed Friday, "but recently there have been rumors of a strong, rare Pokémon not native to Hoenn that none of the trainers passing through have been able to beat. Though that's probably because they're all rookies."

Tom grinned. "Interesting. Sounds like a challenge."

"I take it you're gonna try and find that Pokémon? Well, in that case, I wish you luck. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna hit the sack."

Tom and Kelli said good night and also decided to turn in.

* * *

The next morning, the two said goodbye to their new friend and headed for Petalburg Forest. As they were walking, they came to a small shoreline. Two people were standing by the edge and talking when they noticed Tom and Kelli's presence. They turned to look at them and Tom and Kelli were surprised to find that they were twins, one looking quite bored and the other appearing very excited. They were boys, perhaps 14 or 15 years of age. They had dark purple hair and light grey eyes, but the most interesting thing about them was the fact that they both wore entirely white suits. The excited boy grabbed the other by wrist and literally dragged him over to the two puzzled trainers.

"Are you two by any chance trainers?" asked the excited twin. Tom and Kelli nodded. "Alright! We don't see trainers that often. I'm Dave, and this is my older twin Jake. What do you two say to a tag battle?"

Tom and Kelli let the idea sink in before exchanging smiles. This would be a good way to wind down after yesterday.

"Okay, we accept," said Tom.

Dave grinned and released a Taillow while Jake just sighed before releasing a Doduo. Tom instantly chose Seedot while Kelli thought a bit before sending Treecko. Surprisingly, it was Jake who made the opening move.

"Doduo, Peck Treecko, now." Doduo charged at Treecko at a startling speed. One of its heads dove forward for the attack. Treecko jumped above the attack and noticed that Doduo's second head was about to strike.

"Treecko, spin and Pound!" called Kelli.

Treecko leaned back to avoid Doduo's attack in midair, then spun around to hit Doduo's head with his tail, causing Doduo to stumble back.

"Taillow, Wing Attack!"

Treecko looked up to see Taillow making a dive for him.

"Seedot, intercept and use a Harden, Bide combo!" ordered Tom.

Seedot jumped in between Taillow and Treecko. He glinted for a second when he hardened his shell. Then, he closed his eyes in concentration just before Taillow's attack sent him skidding across the ground. He rolled up onto his feet without opening his eyes.

"Take down that acorn, guys!" said Dave, "Don't let him finish that move!"

Both birds made a direct course for Seedot, Doduo by land and Taillow through air.

"Treecko!" called Kelli, "Protect Seedot!"

Treecko pushed Seedot away from danger and jumped over Taillow's Wing Attack just before he was forced to focus on dodging Doduo's rapid Fury Attacks. Taillow made a turn to attack Seedot once again, who was standing with his eyes still closed. As Taillow drew close, Seedot's eyes shot open and he jumped to the side to dodge Taillow's attack. Then, before Taillow passed him, he drew back his head (or in this case, his entire body) and slammed it onto Taillow, hammering him into the ground. Tailow fainted immediately.

Meanwhile, Treecko was having a little trouble dodging the jabs of Doduo's two beaks, and he was being pushed back. Suddenly, Treecko felt his foot hit a stone and stumbled. Doduo took the opening and bombarded Treecko with lightning-quick attacks.

"Treecko, you need to get out of there!" shouted Kelli.

Treecko concentrated through the pain and performed a back flip, Pounding both Doduo's heads in their chins with his tail along the way. He landed a few feet away.

"He's almost done, Doduo," said Jake to his partner, "Finish him with a double Peck attack."

Doduo dashed toward Treecko and sent both heads forward at the same time. Treecko smirked as he ducked under the attacks and then trapped each head under his arms by the neck. He then performed a high back flip while tossing Doduo into the ground. While Doduo tried to stand, he didn't notice Treecko falling toward him before Pounding his tail onto both heads. Doduo swayed before collapsing on the ground. All the trainers watching were dumbfounded at his strength.

"It's a good thing he was given to you," Tom said to Kelli, "Catching him would've been a real pain."

Kelli only nodded in agreement. Treecko then began to shine brightly, causing the trainers to shield their eyes. After growing much taller to his previous size, he reappeared in his evolved form.

"_Oymygosh!_" yelled Kelli as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "You're so cool! You've gotten so big, Treecko!"

"He isn't Treecko anymore; he's Grovyle," corrected Tom. _'At least his strength won't be as shocking anymore,'_ he thought.

The twins walked up to Tom and Kelli. They looked at Dave, but it was Jack who spoke.

"You guys are a good team," he praised them, surprisingly with a small smile on his face, "We haven't had a good tag battle in a long while; I was starting to get bored."

'_You don't say,'_ Tom and Kelli unknowingly shared the same thought.

"Anyway, here are your winnings," finished Jack as he reached in his pocket and tossed a large wad of cash at Tom. Tom caught it and was surprised at the weight.

"You're kidding, right? This is way too much," said Tom.

Jack waved a hand in dismissal. "Please, that's pocket change compared to what we've got stored away. Come on, Dave, it's time to get back to the ship."

Dave waved to the two friends with a smile before he turned to follow his twin brother. Tom and Kelli watched them leave before turning their attention to the money. Suddenly, Tom pocketed it.

"Hey!" exclaimed Kelli, "Aren't you at least going to count it?"

Tom looked at her. "I don't want to count money every time we win a battle. We'll count it when we reach Rustboro."

Tom then turned and headed for the forest, indicating that he was done talking about it. Kelli rolled her eyes and followed him.

* * *

**Okay, the plot is heating up, but I don't know whether it seems like too much, or if I sent the message that these machine-controlled Pokémon are not invincible well enough. Please help me improve by sending your opinion in reviews!**

**Friday is owned by Happy2Bme.**

**

* * *

**

**Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of my character, though there will be exceptions. Ex: If you want a Swampert, and I use your character in the next chapter, it will start as Mudkip and grow as the story progresses. History might also be different or not mentioned. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. If you don't submit a character, review anyway. Thanks! :)**

_**Attention! I have decided to post which Pokémon you should NOT put in your party at this point if you want your character used.**_

_**Any starter that has appeared; I won't use the same one twice.**_

_**Charmander, Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Jolteon. I've already picked trainers for them.**_

_**Lucario and Metagross; too darn powerful despite being awesome, and I am thinking of making another OC much later on with one of these, though they will not be a main character.**_

_**Trainers with more than one starter or Eevee form (I might accept ONE Eevee form if I like your character a lot).**_

_**Legendaries, duh.**_

_**Pikachu. I like him, but two is too much.**_

_**Shinnies. Just don't do anything for me.**_

_**If you put one of these in already, PM me with a short message with full party to correct.**_

**Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...**


	7. The Struggle in the Forest

**Once, again, I am late for update, and the chapter is even my shortest. I thank the four people who actually reviewed, and to the rest, I would really appreciate your insight. You have no clue how motivating it is to receive reader's opinions. Now on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Why would anyone think I own Pokémon?**

**An OC Story**

* * *

Tom and Kelli had been walking through the forest for a couple hours now. A few trainers with weak bug Pokémon had challenged them, and Kelli took the chance to train her Zigzagoon and Surskit. Tom was becoming increasingly bored. Suddenly, Tom saw a tree up ahead beginning to fall and raised his arm in front of Kelli to stop her. The tree crashed onto the trail, and out of the opening where the tree had once stood appeared a large, powerful-looking green bug. Tom gasped.

'_That's a Scyther! That has to be the Pokémon Friday told us about!'_

The Scyther heard Tom's gasp and ran into the other side of the forest.

"Come on!" Tom called to Kelli, "We can't let it get away!"

They ran into the forest after the Scyther. It was beginning to lose them when Kelli got an idea.

"Go, Grovyle!" she cried, bringing out her just-evolved starter, "Use Pursuit!"

Grovyle appeared and immediately began jumping from tree to tree towards Scyther. In a matter of seconds, Grovyle caught up to Scyther and rammed him in the back, knocking the Pokémon into the ground. Grovyle approached Scyther again to attack, but Scyther quickly jumped to the right. By this time, Tom and Kelli had caught up to them.

"Grovyle, Quick Attack!"

Grovyle raced towards Scyther, but just as he was about to reach him, Scyther leapt away from Grovyle and used a tree to launch himself right back. He collided with Grovyle, knocking him on his back. When Grovyle rose, he was shocked. Scyther was moving at insanely fast speeds, using Quick Attack along with the trees to rapidly change direction. Grovyle couldn't keep track of him. Suddenly, Scyther passed in front of him while striking him across the chest. Grovyle staggered backwards, but just as he regained his balance, he felt another strike hit him in the back with even more force than before. Tom saw the pained look on Grovyle's face and turned to Kelli.

"You might want to return him soon," he said, "That Syther is at a higher level, and the move its using, Fury Cutter, is extremely dangerous against Grass types."

Kelli was hesitant at first, but then Scyther struck Grovyle again, this time in the face, and Grovyle fell to his knees. Kelli called him back quickly before he could gain any more damage. Scyther cancelled his attack once Grovyle disappeared. Kelli looked disappointed, but she looked up when Tom placed his hand on her head.

"Thanks for stopping him, but its our turn now," he said as he brought out Combusken's Poké ball. He opened it in his hand, allowing his partner to appear right beside him. Tom kneeled down and whispered some words in Combusken's ear. Combusken nodded and charged toward Scyther, who immediately began the same technique he had used against Grovyle.

"Alright, Combusken, ready your Metal Claw in both claws."

Both of Combusken's claws began to shine with a white light. He then stood stock still, waiting his next command. Tom focused completely on Scyther's path; he needed to time things just right for this to work. Suddenly, he saw Scyther turn to head straight towards Combusken from behind and to the left.

"Seven!" shouted Tom.

Just as Scyther was about to land a hit, Combusken spun around and nailed him in the torso with a Metal Claw from his right arm. Scyther was sent crashing into the tree he had leapt from.

"How'd you do that?" asked Kelli.

"It's pretty simple actually; lots of people use it," explained Tom, "Combusken just ignores Scyther's moves and imagines that he's standing on a giant face of a clock. Then he attacks in the direction of the number I call out."

Combusken, who still had his left arm prepared with Metal Claw, jumped toward Scyther to strike again. Scyther recovered and dodged at the last moment, leaving the attack to crush its way clean through the tree. Scyther then came up behind Combusken. Combusken turned around just before Scyther began wildly swinging Slashes at him. Combusken struggled to avoid being hit by the powerful strikes.

"Combusken, fend him off with Metal Claw!"

Combusken's claws once more began to glow, and he began using them to deflect Scyther's powerful blows.

"Why aren't you using Ember?" Kelli asked Tom, "That would finish this quickly."

"I might have risked it on the path," replied Tom while still watching the battle, "but this area of the forest is too dense to use fire attacks carelessly. Besides, this way is much more interesting."

As he watched, it appeared that the two Pokémon were evenly matched, but as he looked more closely, he could see that Combusken was sweating. He didn't think that the Scyther was holding back, but it definitely wasn't nearly as tired as Combusken.

"Combuken, Focus Energy!"

Combusken continued to fend of Scyther's fierce onslaught of Slashes while building up what energy he had left. His body began to shimmer with a faint orange hue.

"Now, grab onto his scythes and don't let go!"

Combusken caught each scythe in one of his claws, immediately halting Scyther's attacks. Scyther realized he was trapped and tried to pull away, but Combusken's grip was tight and firm.

"Now use Peck! Next, Double Kick!"

Combusken swung his head forward, hitting Scyther right between the eyes with his beak. As Scyther cringed in pain, Combusken let go of him and swung his right leg up to kick Scyther in the face before spinning around to hit Scyther in the gut with his left leg. Scyther fell to the ground and Tom took the chance to throw a Poké ball at him. At the last second, Scyther regained his senses, and with a single swipe, he cleanly sliced the ball in two. Tom blinked before saying, "Well that sucks."

While Scyther was distracted by Tom, Combusken charged with Quick Attack while readying for Metal Claw. Scyther realized Combusken was coming but couldn't move out of the way in time. Combusken planted his Metal Claw into Scyther's chest, but he didn't stop there. He kept on running while bringing Scyther along with him and slammed him into the nearest tree. Combusken stepped back and allowed Scyther to collapse onto the ground. When it was certain that he wouldn't be getting up, Combusken fell to the ground, exhausted.

"Great job, buddy," said Tom as he walked up to him and tossed another ball at Scyther. Scyther couldn't resist and was immediately caught.

"Why is Combusken so tired?" asked Kelli, "He didn't take any clean hits."

Tom thought about it before saying, "That was his first battle as a Combusken, He probably isn't used to his new shape yet. You know, having arms and knees and stuff."

Tom recalled Combusken and picked up Scyther's ball. He stood and looked around for a moment.

"I guess we might as well set up camp," he said.

"Huh? But why?" asked Kelli with confusion.

"Well, can _you_ remember how to get back to the path?" asked Tom skeptically.

"Sure," she replied simply.

Tom had some doubts, but they _were_ already lost, or at least, he thought they were. It couldn't hurt to humor her.

"Okay then, lead the way."

After a short 10-minute walk, they once more were on the path. Tom could even see the tree Scyther had cut down. He looked around in disbelief before turning to look at Kelli. She was wearing a huge grin, and he could tell that it wasn't just because she was proud of herself.

'_She's like one of those GPS things, only a lot more annoying and expensive.'_

"Uh…l-let's get going then. We should be out of this forest before dark," he stuttered as he started walking down the path to escape his embarrassment. Kelli silently followed, and somehow, that just annoyed him even more.

* * *

**Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of my character, though there will be exceptions. History might also be different or not mentioned. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. If you don't submit a character, review anyway. Thanks! :)**

_**Attention! I have decided to post which Pokémon you should NOT put in your party at this point if you want your character used.**_

_**Lucario and Metagross; too darn powerful despite being awesome, and I am thinking of making another OC much later on with one of these, though they will not be a main character.**_

_**Trainers with more than one starter or Eevee form (I might accept ONE Eevee form if I like your character a lot).**_

_**Legendaries, duh.**_

_**Pikachu. I like him, but two is too much.**_

_**Shinnies. Just don't do anything for me.**_

_**If you put one of these in already, PM me with a short message with full party to correct.**_

_**Starter Pokémon not taken yet: Cyndaquil, Chickorita, and Chimchar**_

**Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...**


	8. School and a Coordinator

Sorry for the really, really, really, really, really, really late update! I have already punished myself severely, so come visit me in the hospital (lol jk), but enough about me. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Now that I've got your attention, check out the section after the chapter! I've changed quite a few things for OC requirements! Okay, you may now proceed to read the chapter and leave a review afterward.**

**Real Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.**

**An OC Story**

* * *

"_Finally…"_ groaned Tom as he and Kelli passed a sign reading "Welcome to Rustboro City, the city probing the integration of nature and science." He was exhausted. Not because the walk was tiring, but because he had barely gotten in a few miserable hours of sleep due to the several dozen mosquito bites he had gotten that night. Kelli had slept quite peacefully, and she was blissfully unaware of her friend's turmoil. As far as he could tell, the devilish bugs hadn't even touched her.

"I know you probably want to face the Gym Leader," she said, "but I'm not going anywhere until I wash up at the Pokémon Center."

"Fine," said Tom, swallowing his irritation and resisting the urge to point out that they needed to go there first to heal their Pokémon anyway. On the way to the Center, Kelli looked in awe at the amazingly tall skyscrapers. Tom would've been impressed, too, if he hadn't been in such a foul mood.

They walked into the Pokémon Center and dropped off their Pokémon at the front. Before Kelli had even requested a room, Tom was out the door heading to the Mart. He needed something that would stop the terrible itching. He was almost at the door when he started to walk faster. As he approached the doors, they opened for him, and-

SMACK!

His head collided with someone else's.

"Ow!"

"Ow!"

Both victims fell to the ground. Tom raised himself to a sitting position while rubbing his forehead. _'Could this morning get any-'_

His thoughts stopped as he saw the person he'd crashed into. She was a young girl, most likely not any older than him. Her hair was a slightly dark blonde that fell down to the middle of her neck. It was mostly kept out of her face by a headband, and she wore glasses over her brown eyes. She wore a short-sleeved yellow shirt and a knee length black skirt. She was also nursing the spot where they had collided. Tom then noticed the bags on the ground, which were obviously what the girl had been carrying before he knocked her over.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed as he scrambled to assist her in picking up the spilled contents.

"It's okay. I'm fine," the girl said as she picked up two of her bags. She looked at Tom only to find him looking quizzically at the other two bags she'd just purchased.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Um," he started to reply. He wasn't sure if he should get in her business, but in the end, his curiosity got the better of him. "Why are you buying so many of the same heavy book?"

Sure enough, there were at least three large, thick copies of the same book in each bag. They were entitled _Training and Breeding of Pokémon_.

"We had a small mishap at the academy," the girl explained, smiling sheepishly. "A fire Pokémon set fire to a bunch of our textbooks during a fit."

"Academy? You mean that trainer's school?"

"Yeah. I help out there a lot." She then looked at the watch she was wearing. "I need to get back before the next class starts."

"Oh! Let me help you!" said Tom as he picked up the remaining two bags. The books were even heavier than he thought. _'How was she planning on carrying twice this weight?'_

"Thanks a lot…um…"

"I'm Tom," he said after realizing he had yet to introduce himself.

"It's nice to meet you, Tom. I'm Kacy," said Kacy with a smile.

"The pleasure is all mine." For some reason, Tom felt himself meaning it a lot more than when he'd said it to scientists that were visiting the lab at home.

They made their way toward the school with Kacy leading the way. On the way, Tom learned just what it was she did at the school. She taught the kids that stayed behind after school when they were confused about something. She bought supplies when they were low. Sometimes she even planned out lessons for the teachers.

"Also, I teach new trainers when they pass through town because the teachers just don't have time to add trainers to their classes for a few days when so many come through here," Kacy explained. She seemed to enjoy teaching, which Tom found very respectable for the very reason that he didn't think he would be able to keep up with it all.

Suddenly an idea popped into Tom's head.

"I have this friend that just became a trainer with me. Would you mind teaching her for a while?"

"Sure. I'm good to start even today if you want. Just bring her over."

At this point they had arrived at the school. Kacy led him inside and to the right down the hall. No one else was around due to classes taking place. Kacy stopped and opened a door to a small room with many supplies.

"This is the inventory. We can leave the books here and I'll put them in the right room when classes are out."

"Okay."

After they set the books in the room, they walked back to the door.

"So when will you be back?" asked Kacy.

"The sooner the better. We don't plan to stay here too long," Tom answered.

"Then how about now? We have enough time to get the first part done before lunch."

He was surprised. He didn't think that too much could get done in an hour.

"Alright, I'll go get her."

"Thanks for helping me carry the bags. And sorry for the trouble," she said , smiling.

A strange, yet not unpleasant, feeling suddenly gripped Tom's stomach, and for some reason, he found it difficult to speak.

"N-No trouble, really," he said with a smile.

"But didn't you need to buy something?"

Immediately the feeling vanished and was replaced by the terrible itching from last night.

"Oh…yeah. I guess I'll do that first," he replied nervously, "I'll see you soon then." He then began walking away.

"Bye."

As soon as he was out of sight he raced to the Mart, where he bought some medicine, and then sped back to the Center even more quickly. He asked the nurse where Kelli's and his room was and took off as soon as she answered. The nurse was too stunned by his speed to reprimand him from running inside in time for him to hear.

* * *

Tom collapsed on the bottom bunk after applying the medicine. He was exhausted despite not running at his fastest. The itching took too much away from his focus to do that. He'd normally lean far forward to take advantage of his already thin physique and become even more aerodynamic.

"I really need to get into shape if I'm gonna be traveling," he said to himself.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened and Kelli walked in.

"There you are. I wondered where you'd run of to," she said.

"There _you_ are," he replied as he rose from the bed and took hold of her wrist, "Let's go; it's time for school." He then led a confused Kelli out of the Center and toward the school.

* * *

Kelli looked at the packet that had been placed in front of her by the strange girl who was, apparently, named Kacy. She gave Tom a menacing glare that told him quite clearly that she was _not_ grateful in _any_ way. Tom just ignored her.

"This is the test given to all new students. Don't struggle too much on questions you don't know. This is just to find out what you know already," explained Kacy.

"Well, I'm gonna check out the Gym. I'll be back soon," said Tom. He turned to walk out the door but found his way blocked by Kacy.

"You're a new trainer too, right?" she asked. He nodded, and she pointed at the desk next to Kelli. "Then you're taking the test too. Sit."

Before he even realized he'd moved, Tom found himself sitting at the desk with the packet in front of him. He heard Kelli make a weird noise and looked at her to see her trembling.

'_Geez, she's fuming,'_ he thought, _'Oh well. She'll get over it.'_

_

* * *

_

Tom got up from his desk and took the packet up to Kacy. She looked up from the book she was reading in surprise.

"You've finished already?"

Kelli heard this and looked up in slight surprise before focusing again on the test. She'd found it hard to believe that he was done while she was hardly halfway through.

"Yeah," replied Tom as he handed the packet to her. Usually when people were surprised at his knowledge on Pokémon he would feel a sense of pride, but today he felt uncomfortable. It felt like he was embarrassed, but that couldn't be it. He couldn't recall any reason why he should be. He grew more uncomfortable as Kacy looked over his answers with an increasing look of amazement.

"Um… If it's okay, I'm going to go take a look at the Gym now," he said.

Kacy nodded without looking up from his test. Tom turned and walked out of the room, closing the door as he left. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Why was he so tense? He decided to think about it later as he made his way out of the building. Luckily, the Gym was only a few blocks away. It was—as he expected—quite a large building. However, he couldn't find very much out from the outside, so he went in. As he walked through the automatic doors, he first saw a receptionist working at her desk. She noticed him and greeted him.

"Welcome to Rustboro Gym. Are you here to schedule a match with Miss Roxanne?"

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Schedule?"

She nodded. "Yes. Since a few months ago, trainers are required to schedule their matches with Gym Leaders at least a day in advance."

This was new to Tom. He hadn't heard of anything like this.

"I suppose I am then," he answered.

"Then may I see your Pokédex?"

Tom handed her his Pokédex and she slid it into an opening on the computer. He heard the machine make some sounds and his Pokédex popped back out.

"There you go," she said brightly as she handed it back to him along with a small booklet, "Your match is at 1 o' clock tomorrow afternoon."

Tom thought it was strange that he didn't have a say in the time, but he didn't have anything planned anyway.

"What's this booklet for?"

"That contains the rules for Gym battles. Some rules were changed recently, so we've been handing them out to every trainer that comes through."

'_Exactly what I needed,'_ thought Tom. "Okay, thanks. See ya."

With that he walked out the door and checked his watch. He still had a while before he had to go back to the school, so he decided to go to Route 116 to train since that area had slightly stronger Pokémon to battle.

* * *

Tom sighed as he flipped through the rulebook for the Gyms. After fighting a few Pokémon in Route 116, it was clear to him that they were too weak to give his Pokémon any decent experience. So he decided to find a shady tree to lie under while he went through the rulebook that he eventually would need to read anyway. Everything was pretty much the same from what he had seen on the old battle videos, but there were a few brow-raising changes that he noted, such as the determination of the method of battle and the fact that the Leaders had a greater variety of Pokémon to chose from. The one that took the cake though, was that the Leaders were given knowledge of what Pokémon the challenger had. At first that seemed unfair, but as he thought about it, he realized that challengers always knew what type of Pokémon the leader would use, or sometimes even what species. Also, knowing what kind of Pokémon they had didn't give that much information. They still wouldn't know which ones the challengers would use, even if they had a good guess. And then there were the actual abilities of the Pokémon. Those could vary quite drastically, even among species.

As all this played out through his head, he heard loud cries of battle a ways off. Curious, he got up and made his way toward the noise. Then he noticed the sounds of battle had already ended, and now there was just shouting. He walked out into a field, a great contrast to the forest path he'd been on. He saw two silhouettes a short distance away. One was large and bulky, and as Tom got closer, he noticed it was a man wearing hiking gear. He was currently stomping his feet and shouting curses every few words. Tom frowned at seeing one of the types of people he hated most—second only to criminals. He then shifted his gaze to the second person. He was a young, short boy with light brown eyes and golden brown hair that went to his shoulders. Tom had difficulty telling whether his skin was barely tan or barely pale. In the end he decided barely pale. He was wearing a gray T-shirt and khaki shorts. The boy's eyes were aimed skyward and his mouth set in an unhappy frown as he walked away from the furious adult. Tom could easily read the boy's thoughts toward the man from his expression: _'You're the one who refused to let me leave without a battle.'_ As the boy left the man behind, he walked toward Tom until he noticed that there was someone in front of him. As the two boys' eyes met, Tom deduced that the boy must be ten because he looked younger than Kelli, but the age requirement for traveling alone was that exact age. The boy squirmed uncomfortably under Tom's gaze.

"Uh…" the boy started nervously, "You're not going to challenge me to a battle too, are you?"

"Nah. I can tell when someone's heart isn't into battling."

The boy looked startled before sighing in relief.

"Thank goodness. The last 6 people I met on the road wouldn't leave me alone until I battled them."

Tom nodded, remembering the many Bug Catchers that Kelli had thrashed on their way through the forest.

"The name's Glen! Glen Murdock! What's yours?" Glen asked cheerfully.

'_He doesn't beat around the bush, does he?'_

"Call me Tom," he replied.

"Okay! So where're you going?"

At this point, Tom could feel that something was off. Glen seemed way too enthusiastic for the situation, and he didn't seem to think that asking direct questions was awkward. Tom didn't think it was either, but he still took notice that most people did.

When he finally thought about the question, he realized Kelli would probably be finished with her test soon.

"I'm about to head back to Rustboro to meet my friend at the school," he said as he turned to walk down the road while still talking to Glen, "You want to come along?"

"Sure!"

* * *

"Hi!" greeted Glen after Tom had introduced him and Kelli to each other outside the school. It seemed Tom had been late in heading back, and the short lunch break was already over, so Kacy had gone back in to help a teacher with a particularly mischievous class.

"Hi," Kelli responded, slightly thrown off by his over-enthusiasm at apparently nothing.

"So how'd the test go?" asked Tom.

"I got a 68," answered Kelli plainly, though not without a bit of regret in her voice, "Kacy told me to come back tomorrow morning so she could teach me about status changes and move combos."

"Okay, but make sure you're at my Gym battle at 1 o' clock," said Tom.

"You're facing the Gyms?" asked Glen.

"Yeah. What about you?"

Glen shook his head. "Nah. I like contests a lot better. Speaking of which, would you guys come watch me at the contest tomorrow?"

"There's a contest tomorrow?"

"Yup! It's a short while after your Gym battle."

"I guess it would be neat to see. What about you, Kelli.

"Alright, but enough about that," said Kelli, suddenly smiling sweetly, yet Tom couldn't help but dread what the next topic would be about, "Let's talk about you and Kacy."

"Huh? What about us?" he asked. Glen just watched the conversation from the side with interest.

"Don't play dumb with me," continued Kelli, "When she told you to sit down, you moved so fast that I coulda sworn you were going to knock the desk over. I would've fallen off my chair laughing if I hadn't bit my tongue. And when she graded your test, you got all embarrassed about doing well! It's obvious that you like her! Well to me, anyway…"

Tom felt his face grow hot at the sudden realization, but he somehow kept his voice calm.

"That doesn't make any sense. Come on, let's get some lunch and we can train for the rest of the day afterwards." He then walked away towards the Center, leaving the other two behind. Kelli watched him leave with amusement dancing in her eyes, but Glen was just confused.

"Why did his face get all red? Is he sick or something?"

Kelli looked at him like she couldn't believe he was that clueless, mostly because that was exactly the case.

"Of course not. He's embarrassed."

"Why? What's there to be embarrassed about?"

Kelli sighed.

"Don't worry about it," she told him as she followed Tom. Glen also followed, still wondering what was so embarrassing about their conversation.

* * *

**Sorry for the boring chapter, but some chapters are just necessary to move the plot along.**

**Glen Murdock is owned by kyuuketsuki fang.**

* * *

**Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of the my character. Ex: If you want a Swampert, and I use your character in the next chapter, it will start as Mudkip and grow as the story progresses. History might also be different or not mentioned. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. If you don't submit a character, review anyway. Thanks! :)**

_**Attention! I have decided to ease up on the restrictions for OCs, so please read.**_

_**I will possibly accept a second of the same starter, but they have much less chance of getting used than someone with Chikorita or Chimchar, who have STILL not been selected yet!**_

_**Lucario and Metagross are now acceptable because I can't imagine leaving them out, but a couple characters have already registered Lucario, so more entries of him probably won't make it.**_

_**Your train may have one Eevee form if you want, but I still feel iffy about using too many.**_

_**Shinnies will be accepted, but only one per submitter and trainer (that means if you submit two characters with one shiny, only one may be used, and if you submit a trainer with two shinnies, he WON'T be used).**_

_**Attention! Restrictions that remain!**_

_**Two or more starters or Eevee forms.**_

_**Legendaries, duh.**_

_**Pikachu. I like him, but two is too much.**_

_**If you put one of these in already, PM me with a short message with full party to correct.**_

**P.S. Those who already altered their parties to meet previous requirements will have their characters remain the same, as I think they are more balanced.**

**Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...**


	9. The First Trial

**Message for flashfire360: I'm glad you enjoy the story, but please select one of the starters and switch for another Pokémon. Otherwise, I'll have to overlook him. Even if you came up with a special circumstance, it wouldn't be fair to others that wanted two starters if I used him.**

**Message for EVERYONE: If you submit an OC, please log in first so that I can contact you with questions or concerns. If you don't have an account... please get one. It's difficult to contact otherwise.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Pokémon, this would be on TV instead of a mere fanfic.**

**An OC Story**

**

* * *

**

Tom awoke the next morning to an empty room. He glanced at the clock and realized why. It read 11:09.

'_Crap!'_ was the only word going though his mind as he jumped out of bed, grabbed a change of clothes and ran to the bathroom to shower.

* * *

With his rush of panic, Tom actually made good time getting dressed and eating his bre- er…lunch. He still had a little over half an hour before his battle when he exited the Center. He wondered where his friends were before he remembered that Kelli would be at school. It was also possible that Glen had gone with her if he was a beginner, which Tom still didn't know, as he hadn't trained with Kelli and him yesterday. He really seemed to dislike battling.

"Oh well," he said to himself, "I only have enough time to go see if they have what I want at the store anyway."

With that, he made his way toward the Mart.

* * *

Tom took a deep breath before entering the Gym. The secretary looked up at him and smiled.

"They're waiting for you right through the doors," she said, while motioning to the double doors on her left.

"Ah, thanks."

'_They?'_ he thought, _'Is there more than one Gym Leader?'_

He took a deep breath to calm himself as he reached the door. He paused before slowly pushing open the doors. A roar of sound suddenly met his ears, making him cringe. When he recovered and saw the arena, his eyes went wide. The arena was covered in rock, with small, rounded stalagmites sticking out of the ground. A woman with taupe hair and red eyes stood at the other side of the field. She looked to be in her early or mid twenties. The referee stood at the edge of the arena. But none of this was what shocked him; they were all exactly as he had seen in the videos.

What shocked him was that the Gym was, in fact, a _stadium_. And it was filled with people. Tom felt himself go stiff and begin to sweat.

'_What the hell?! This wasn't in any of the videos! I knew I'd have to battle in front of people in the league, but not in my first Gym battle!'_

"Go Tom! Grind her Pokémon into the dirt!"

He heard a familiar voice behind him and looked back to see Kelli standing up at her seat, receiving several glares from residents of the city. Kacy and Glen were sitting on either side of her, miserably attempting to look like they didn't know the girl.

Tom wanted to reprimand her, but couldn't seem to find his voice. Then he realized that most of the crowd was shouting similar things to the Gym Leader about him. He let out a sigh and felt much more relaxed.

'_So the entire city already has a bad opinion of me; that's good.'_

He turned to face the field again and walked toward the trainer's box.

The leader, who he knew as Roxanne from the sign out front, spoke to him.

"If you're wondering about the crowd, it's for funding," said sheepishly, "Ever since a year ago, there's been an outbreak of really talented trainers, and the Gyms weren't winning enough battles to support it."

Before Tom could reply, she continued.

"But don't even think for a moment that we've become pushovers! You'll still need to battle with everything you've got!"

Tom shrugged. "I was planning on that anyway."

Roxanne grinned with amusement before nodding to the referee, who made an announcement.

"We will now decide the method of battle!" he spoke into his microphone headset. A screen behind him suddenly turned on and rapidly flipped through pictures. Eventually, the flipping slowed down to a stop.

It read:

**2 VS. 2**

**Single Elimination Battle**

**Battle type: Set**

"It's been decided," said the ref, "This match between Leader Roxanne and challenger Tom will be a 2-on-2 Single battle. Neither trainer may use substitutes. If a Pokémon is returned before it is defeated, it will not be allowed out again. The match will end when a trainer has lost two Pokémon or forfeits the battle."

Tom smirked as he remembered what the rulebook had said about the strange way of choosing battle methods.

'_Great Trainers are prepared for any situation, huh?'_

"Trainers…Begin!"

Tom whipped out a Pokéball and tossed it. "Seedot, get ready!"

Roxanne did the same. "Come out, Nosepass!"

Both Pokémon were released from their ball and appeared near the center of the field.

"Nosepass, use Headbutt!"

"Dodge and use Harden!"

Nosepass threw his entire body top-first at Seedot, who leapt to the side while thickening its shell to prepare for further attacks.

'_If I'm right, the majority of Nosepass's attacks should be close-range, so-'_

"Thunder Wave!"

'_Crap, not right!'_

"Seedot, Bullet Seed!"

Nosepass fired several thin streams of electricity from its magnetic nose at Seedot, who reacted by shooting many high–speed seeds at Nosepass. In a stroke of luck, the seeds broke through the streams of electricity without so much as slowing down before hitting their target dead on, causing Nosepass to groan in pain. Roxanne gave her next command without so much as a frown.

"Use Rock Throw!"

Nosepass leapt high into the air and began to fall when it was right above Seedot.

Tom grinned.

"Nature Power!"

Seedot suddenly glowed a transparent white, but almost instantly it turned brown. Large rocks were suddenly ripped from the field around Seedot and flew upward colliding with Nosepass and sending it falling to the ground a couple meters away.

But Roxanne still showed no emotion as she shouted her next order.

"Rock Tomb, then Headbutt!"

Nosepass stomped on the ground, and two small stalagmites shot out of the ground on either side of seedot, jabbing into him and firmly pinching him in place. When Nosepass confirmed that his opponent was trapped, he lunged forward.

Tom thought franticly. "Use Growth and get out of there!"

Seedot concentrated his energy and grew in size, just enough to break the stalagmites holding him prisoner, but he had no time to dodge Nosepass's Headbutt attack and was sent skidding across the field from the impact.

"Another Headbutt!"

"Jump and get away!"

Again, Nosepass lunged at Seedot, but Seedot jumped over him and Nosepass crashed into one of the larger rocks in the field. Seedot then ran in the opposite direction.

"Stop it with Thunder Wave!"

Nosepass lifted itself from the ground and once again fired thin streams of electricity at Seedot.

"Look out!" called Tom.

Seedot only had the time to turn around before he felt electricity shoot through his body.

"Finish it with Headbutt!"

"Bullet Seed!"

Nosepass charged at Seedot, who fired dozens of seeds at Nosepass.

"Charge through it!"

The seeds began battering Nosepass, but he kept moving towards Seedot.

'_All or nothing I guess,'_ thought Tom. "Keep firing!"

Seedot continued his barrage, but soon Nosepass crashed into him and they both went flying across the ground before coming to a stop. There was a moment of silence as neither one rose to their feet. The referee uneasily made the announcement.

"N-Neither Pokémon is-"

"Wait," interrupted Roxanne, "It's not over quite yet."

The audience was completely quiet as both Pokémon slowly rose to their feet. The referee awkwardly made a different announcement.

"Both Pokémon are still standing… The battle shall continue… Now!-"

"Bullet Seed," commanded Tom dully, not even a second after the referee got finished with his sentence.

Seedot spat a single seed at Nosepass, which hit him right between the eyes, knocking him backwards on the ground, where he did not get up. There was another moment of silence before Tom broke it.

"There. Now it's over," he said to the ref.

The ref was about to reply when Seedot began glowing with a bright white light. Everyone watched as he grew a body, arms, and legs between his head and feet. His head widened, and a leaf grew out of the top.

"_Nuzzz…"_ came the deep tone of Nuzleaf's voice.

'_Hmmm,'_ thought Tom with a wide grin, _'I wonder if everyone's Pokémon evolve this quickly.'_

The referee raised his flag. "N-Nosepass is unable to b-battle. Leader Roxanne shall now release her final Pokémon."

A quiet buzz of chatter filled the stadium at the words "final Pokémon." Roxanne recalled Nosepass and brought out her next Poké ball.

"I'll have to thank you," she said to Tom, catching his attention, "Most beginners are too weak to use this one. She hasn't been in a Gym battle yet."

She tossed the ball into the air, while calling: "Stretch your wings, Aerodactyl!"

The ball opened, releasing onto the field a large, rocky-skinned Pteranodon-like creature, except for the fact that it had a tail. It looked like it was about 8 feet tall and the wingspan could very well have been wider than two times Tom's height.

"_AEEEEEROOOOOO!!!"_

The screech was ear splitting. The only one in the stadium who didn't cringe was Roxanne. When the sound faded, the entire audience looked on in awe.

"She's still young, and pretty small for her species, but she should provide an adequate opponent," she said.

'_So she's got that one, huh?' _thought Tom.

_Flashback_

_It was a little longer than two years ago. It was very early morning, and Tom was walking to the kitchen for something to eat. The door to one of the labs was slightly ajar, and the light was on. As he walked by, he heard an excited gasp from inside, piquing his interest. He walked back a little bit and looked through the opening. Two scientists were looking into a glass case with a small Aerodactyl, no larger than a person's torso, inside._

"_We finally rejuvenated a female Aerodactyl fossil! Now, when it grows up, we can begin breeding to remove it from the extinct list!" one of the scientists exclaimed._

"_Yeah, but now we need to find someone reliable enough to raise it well and protect it," said the other._

"_C'mon, that'll be a breeze compared to actually finding a female Aerodactyl fossil."_

'Is this all?' _Tom thought with a stifled yawn before turning and resuming his trip to the kitchen._

_End Flashback_

'_Adequate my foot. She's gonna be a royal pain.'_ He took out a Poké ball and held it out.

"Return, Nuzleaf."

The audience was shocked as Nuzleaf was sucked into his Poké ball. Kelli in particular was confused, and slightly peeved.

"What does he think he's doing?!" she cried, "Doesn't he remember he won't be allowed to use Nuzleaf again after that?"

"I guess he's thinking ahead," said Kacy, catching Kelli's attention, "He knows that a Pokémon's injuries aren't healed when they evolve, and Nuzleaf took a lot of damage as a Seedot. Then there's the fact that Aerodactyl is much faster and is part Flying-type. He's probably thinking that Nuzleaf won't be able to do anything, so he doesn't want to cause him unnecessary pain."

Back on the field, Tom had already released Combusken onto the field. The referee was about to continue the match.

"Combusken VS. Aerodactyl. Battle… begin!"

Tom took the first move.

"Charge and use Metal Claw!"

The entire audience watched in bewilderment as Combusken ran straight for the much larger Aerodactyl, right claw glowing with his attack.

Roxanne frowned in disappointment before shouting, "Use Wing Attack!"

Tom grinned as Aerodactyl raised her right wing to swipe at Combusken.

"Sike! Sand-attack!"

Combusken suddenly skidded to a stop and kicked at the earth, digging in his nails to knock up as much sand as possible. The sand went straight up into the startled Aerodactyl's face. As she used the hands in the middle of her wings to try and get the sand out of her eyes, Roxanne was bracing herself to order a command.

'_Next he's going to order an attack,'_ she thought, _'I just need to order a counterattack right afterwards.'_

Combusken then jumped up in front of Aerodactyl and began delivering a flurry of kicks to her face.

"Huh? Wha-?" stuttered Roxanne, "When did he give-?"

'_She's hesitating!'_ thought Tom.

"Metal Claw!"

When Roxanne heard that, she snapped back into concentration.

"Block it with Steel Wing!"

Combusken stopped kicking and pulled back a glowing right claw. As he swung at Aerodactyl, she brought up a similarly shining left wing in front of her, effectively blocking Combusken's attack.

"Now Wing Attack!"

Aerodactyl swiped her other wing and hit Combusken before he could react. He was sent flying into a rock at the edge of the field. Aerodactyl flapped her large wings, finally taking off into the air. Combusken picked himself off the ground only to find that his opponent was far out of his reach.

"Aerodactyl, swoop down for a Headbutt!"

"Jump to the side!"

Aerodactyl made a steep dive toward Combusken, quickly gaining speed. As Combuken prepared to leap to the side, Roxanne gave another command.

"Agility!"

Suddenly, Aerodactyl's speed tripled and she crashed head first into Combusken, sending him skidding across the ground while she swooped back into the sky. Tom grit his teeth.

'_That was a pretty heavy hit, but…'_

"Combusken, use your new move!"

Combusken picked himself up before looking up at Aerodactyl. For a moment, his eyes seemed to flash, but Roxanne didn't notice.

'_Nothing happened…'_ she thought.

"Aerodactyl, swoop down for another Headbutt! Use Agility!"

Again Aerodactyl swooped down toward Combusken, this time moving at full speed from the beginning.

But that's what Tom was hoping for.

"Ricochet off the rock using Agility! Then use Metal Claw!"

Surprise and confusion hit everyone in the crowd. How did a Combusken know Agility? Roxanne tried to call off Aerodactyl's attack, but it was too late.

Just as Aerodactyl was about to hit Combusken, he dashed to the side with tremendous speed, leapt off a rock back toward Aerodactyl, and struck her in the face with a shining claw. With the power and added effectiveness of the blow, she was sent crashing into the ground.

"Combusken, another Metal Claw!"

"Whirlwind and fly away!"

Combusken leapt toward Aerodactyl for another attack, but she rose from the ground and whipped up a powerful wind with her strong wings. The wind blew Combusken through the air before he landed on his feet, which gave Aerodactyl enough time to take off into the air once more. Tom huffed in annoyance. Roxanne made her next move.

"Use Ancientpower!"

Aerodactyl's eyes began glowing a dim white, and suddenly, chunks of rock were ripped from the field and hovered in mid air. They flew around to form a circle with Combusken in the center. Then, one-by-one, they began throwing themselves at him.

"Crush them with double Metal Claw!"

Combusken powered up both claws and started frantically swinging at every rock that went his way. Every now and then one would make contact with him, but eventually, all the rocks were reduced to many tiny pebbles. Roxanne didn't give Combusken even a moment to catch his breath.

"Let's finish with Twister!"

Aerodactyl began flapping her wings violently and winds began to blow all around the field, growing in speed with each second.

Tom saw his one chance and didn't waste any time.

"Combusken, run to the very center of the Twister and dig your feet as deep into the ground as you can! Protect yourself with your arms and shoot an Ember straight upward when I give the signal!"

Combuken ran to the center of the growing winds. He then stomped both feet into the ground, firmly planting him in place. He raised his arms in front of him to protect his face and upper body. He could feel the pebbles from the rocks he had crushed slamming into his body along with the powerful winds. After a while he felt something start to run through his body, like a burst of adrenaline, not that he knew what that was.

Roxanne immediately knew the red aura that Combusken began emitting.

'_Blaze? He isn't hoping that will be enough to beat us, is he?'_

Tom saw her confused expression and grinned.

'_Even Blaze wouldn't increase fire's power enough to greatly harm Aerodactyl, who's part Rock type, but…'_

He watched Combusken's aura grow to a decent size and decided it was time.

"Now!"

Combusken threw back his head and launched several large fireballs up the center of the Twister. Tom's grin grew into a satisfied smirk as the fire rapidly filled the column of wind.

'…_fire feeds on wind.'_

The flames quickly filled the entire width of the Twister and then shot up toward Aerodactyl with great speed. She was completely engulfed by the flames before she could react. For a few more seconds, the new pillar of fire heated and lit up the stadium, causing everyone to shield themselves and look away. Eventually, the column began to grow thinner, up until it vanished completely. Everyone looked up to see Aerodactyl hovering in midair, completely charred from head to tail. She then began to fall towards the ground. She was about to crash when she regained her focus and halted her freefall with a single beat of her strong wings. At that moment, she looked up to find Combusken lunging straight at her with a glowing claw raised.

"Thunder Fang!" yelled Roxanne.

Aerodactyl's teeth cackled with electricity as she reached out her mouth to catch Combusken in her jaws. However, Combusken used her snout to push himself over the attack with his free arm. He then slammed his Metal Claw into the top of her head with all the strength he could muster, forcing Aerodactyl to fall to the ground with a crash. The audience looked on in stunned silence for a few moments until…

"Aerodactyl is unable to battle!" called the ref, "The winner of this battle and the Stone Badge is Trainer Tom!"

The crowd burst into applause and Tom jumped. He'd been expecting the crowd to chew him out for beating their idol. He noticed Roxanne was walking toward him from her side of the field and recalled Combusken to his ball before hurrying to meet her in the center. When he reached her, she was smiling.

"That was quite an enjoyable battle," she said, "Thank you."

"No problem," replied Tom, a proud, yet not arrogant, grin forcing its way onto his face, "If you're ever up to a rematch, let me know!"

"I'll remember that," she replied, "But anyway, I believe you've earned this."

She handed him a gold badge that resembled a tilted rectangle cut diagonally in half.

'_This is a Stone Badge? It looks nothing like a stone. But… it __**is**__ pretty shiny.'_

"This is proof that you have defeated me," Roxanne continued, "Show it to the receptionist and you will also be awarded a Rock Type TM of your choosing."

Tom's eyes lit up like stars. He hadn't read anything about that in the booklet.

"Really!?"

Roxanne sweatdropped. "Y-yeah. Why would I lie?"

'_He seems more excited about a TM than he is of my badge.'_

"Thanks!" Tom exclaimed. With that, he turned and walked quickly off field (he forced himself to not start skipping or running) and into the lobby, leaving a stunned Roxanne in the center of the field.

* * *

Tom stood next to a tree outside the Gym while the spectators exited the building, waiting for his friends to come out.

"Tom!"

He heard a familiar voice call his name and searched for the source. He soon saw three people making their way toward him through the crowd. Kelli was the first to make it through, then Kacy, and finally Glen. When they reached him, Kelli burst into speech.

"That was wicked! The Twister was like '_HYUUU_…', then your Ember made it go '_FWOOSH!_', and everyone was like '_YAH!_'" she chattered while acting out each sound as well as she knew how.

Tom smiled sheepishly at her praise. In his mind, if Roxanne hadn't used Twister and given them the opportunity to blast Aerodactyl out of the sky, he and Combusken would've eventually have been beaten. He was just lucky, and he wasn't entirely satisfied with it, but not accepting the Badge would be an insult to the Gym Leader who lost.

A question from Kacy brought him out of his thoughts and back to reality.

"I still can't figure out though, how Combusken was able to learn Agility. How'd you teach him?"

"Heh. I don't deserve any credit for that. It's just the result of a really old TM that I used."

"Umm…," Glen started, "I'm not sure, but I don't think Agility was _ever_ a TM."

"No, it wasn't," Tom confirmed, "but Mimic was."

Glen and Kelly stared at him cluelessly, but Kacy looked like she was trying to remember something. Soon, a light-bulb clicked on in her head.

"Oh! It's that move where the user can copy one of its opponent's moves for the rest of the battle. I heard they stopped producing those because so many people were unsatisfied with only knowing a move during the battle."

Tom smiled. "Yup! That's the one. I went to the Mart before the match and luckily, the storeowner still had one that worked," he said. Then he remembered something and his whole body became tense with anxiety.

'_I might as well tell her now. She'll find out sooner or later.'_

"B-By the way, Kelli, you know how we had a bunch of m-money when we arrived?" he asked with a stutter.

Kelli glared at him fiercely and he flinched as if scared that her eyes would blast a hole straight through him.

"How much is left?" she asked. Her voice was much lower than he was used to hearing.

'_Crap! She's a helluva lot scarier than I thought she'd be!'_

"Well, h-he said it was _antique_, so a l-little more than… 300 Poké…"

POW!!

"Jerk. Did he forget I helped him earn that money?!" she muttered through her teeth as she stomped away, leaving Tom lying on the ground by the others. Glen and Kacy leaned over him to find that he was not unconscious, but just lying on the ground quite still. Tom sighed as the area around his left eye became a dark purple.

"It's not like I'm not going to pay her back," he said quietly to no one in particular.

* * *

Footnote: Tom has stage-fright due to not wanting to mess up in front of people and give them a bad opinion of him, though he doesn't care when their opinions are already bad.

* * *

**Please submit your OCs through reviews. Give thorough descriptions, and a list of Pokémon your character would like. Please, try to make most Pokémon those that will appear in Hoenn. Also, when your character appears, the Pokémon will most likely be adjusted to the ability of the my character. Ex: If you want a Swampert, and I use your character in the next chapter, it will start as Mudkip and grow as the story progresses. History might also be different or not mentioned. The more descriptive your character is, the more likely it will be used. If you don't submit a character, review anyway. Thanks! :)**

_**Attention! I have decided to ease up on the restrictions for OCs, so please read.**_

_**I will possibly accept a second of the same starter, but they have much less chance of getting used than someone with Chikorita or Chimchar, who have STILL not been selected yet!**_

_**Lucario and Metagross are now acceptable because I can't imagine leaving them out, but a couple characters have already registered Lucario, so more entries of him probably won't make it.**_

_**Your train may have one Eevee form if you want, but I still feel iffy about using too many.**_

_**Shinnies will be accepted, but only one per submitter and trainer (that means if you submit two characters with one shiny, only one may be used, and if you submit a trainer with two shinnies, he WON'T be used).**_

_**Attention! Restrictions that remain!**_

_**Two or more starters or Eevee forms.**_

_**Legendaries, duh.**_

_**Pikachu. I like him, but two is too much.**_

_**If you put one of these in already, PM me with a short message with full party to correct.**_

**P.S. Those who already altered their parties to meet previous requirements will have their characters remain the same, as I think they are more balanced.**

**Flamers will have curses placed upon them that forbid them from thinking negative thoughts, turning them into mindless optimists. Bwahaha...**


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